Celestial Soul
by Ifrit's Wrath
Summary: I was born into Earthland dead and I was born with a strange gift, one that allowed me to see what no other could ever see. I knew all this but I couldn't remember why. I needed to remember. It was all mixed up. I needed to put it back together. I should have done that but instead I made a deal with a dead woman to watch over her daughter. A sort of Bleach/FairyTail Xover No Flame.
1. Prologue

**Hi! Welcome to this story. Umm, this I am actually part of a much bigger one that is still in the works but I am still figuring that out and so you get this for now.**

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**Prologue**

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**Emerald**

I practically sweat-dropped at the sight of the device that atood in the place of the 3 large couches and the TV in the living room of the Ivanick mansion. The main part of the machine was a huge arc with little crystal shards on embedded in the curved steel which, upon closer inspection, I found was soul crystal, something of my brother's own making, which were the only materials known that could hold Irina's reiatsu, save for her Zanpakuto, Zangetsu and Stygian Iron, the metal her shifting chain was made of. Just the fact that they were using a signifact amount of what little soul crystal they had told me that this was serious.

"Mornin', Em." Patrick, dressed in civie clothes for his day off, greeted me as I went around the coffee table, or what used to be the coffee table before someone, most likely my brother, cut it in half and turned it into a rotating desk that moved like a merry-go-round. "Notice anethin' diffurent? Oi think Oliver mighta' had the certains changed." he said sarcastically, his accent coming out thick.

I scowled at him. "Since when did the living room become my brother's lab?"

"Since roight now, apparently" he answered in a chipper voice.

I groaned "It is too fucking early for this." I grumbled

"No coffee yet?" Pat said with a smug smile that told me he probably alread had his.

I shook my head. "Nope, so you better wipe than grin off your ugly mug before I punch it off you" he just snickered. In my defense, I was still half-asleep, though he was right to laugh at such a shitty threat. Seventh seat Patrick O'Donoghue was something of a best friend to me, Patrol Captain Emerald Walker, so he was allowed to make fun of my crappy jokes and laugh at me when I was still in what he called my "Zombie Mode".

"What the hell does it even do?" I asked, hoping for an explanation to the thing that ruined my morning reruns of Family Guy.

"I honestly dinnae and I am a tad surprised that it hasn't exploded yit" Pat answered crossing his arms over his chest and looking the potential threat up and down.

We waited for around fifteen and still my brother was a no show and, in that time, Alexandria, one of the younger members who was no older than nine, flash-stepped in, laughing and squealing in delight as an older girl with vibrant purple hair ran after her.

Alexandria's bright blue eyes suddenly locked on to Patrick and I "Up!" The little girl screamed before jumping into her surrogate older brother's arms.

"Good mornin' lass!" he said as he spun her around, much to the little girl's delight. He then turned to purple-haired girl who had flopped down onto the carpet and whose chest was heaving from having to run after one of the fastest flashers in the squad. "Mornin' Amy"

"The fuck... is so good... about it?" she said in between the last part coming out as a grumble.

"What the hell happened?" I asked her, trying, and failing, not to laugh.

"Thatcher...fed her and Neferia...sugarnuts again." She said before an exhausted groan escaped her.

I winced while Patrick gave barking laugh and went to calming down the little girl. Nefer and Lexy had this condition, of which Oliver had given a complicated and sciency name that I cared not to remember, that made them crazy, running up the side of the Empire State Building (because the walls were already a normal thing when you live with ninjas) crazy. They were like that kid Mac from Foster's, even the smallest amount of sugar made them go ballistic.

It was only after Amy and finally caught her breath that the man behind the machine finally showed his stupid face.

"Ah, so I see you've found my creation!" My brother Lincoln Walker, the fourteenth division's resident Mayuri Kurotsuchi (minus the psycho) suddenly walked in, huge grin plastered all over his face, blonde hair messed up in that "I haven't fixed it because I was working" sort of way, announcing his arrival in his usual, loud attention-grabbing manner. In his wake came his second-in-command and best friend, David Standall, carrying a box full of tools.

"What the hell is this?" I asked my little brother without so much as a greeting which, of course, he didn't pass up a chance to point out.

He pouted, in the way that made me want to tell him that he looked like a pug "What, no "Hi"? No "Good morning my genius brother"?" he shook his head and clicked his tongue "That is cold sis"

"Cold my ass" I said unamusedly "I come here to watch morning cartoons and instead I find this crap-"

"Crap?!" he shouted, obviously offended.

I smacked his arm "-in the place of the TV." I gestured to the machine. "So I better have a good reason as to why it's here and not in your lab and as to what it does so I don't have an excuse to rip it apart"

The staring contest that ensued went on a little too long for Pat, who hated uncomfortable silences. "Dude just do it. She hasn had coffee yet" he told Lincoln as he held Alexandria to him so she wouldn't bolt again.

Link cringed, knowing how I got when I didn't get my coffee "Well when you put it that way" he said before he gave us a mad scientist grin that went perfectly with his rat's nest of blonde locks and that crazy glint in his green eyes. Link could truly rock the Einstein look. "This, dear sister, is the key to opening rift to other dimensions, other universes!" He exclaimed, his hands thrown up for dramatic effect.

"...No seriously. What does it do?" I asked and he pouted again.

"Dave explain" he told his friend as he pulled a few tools out of the box and started working on the machine. Dave nodded in compliance.

"So you guys know how we're able to go to different dimensions at will. Like one minute we could be here, then the next we're in the soul society, then the next we could be in Konoha?"

"Yes" I answered before I reached for the hand Amy had held out as a request to help her up.

"Well the only reason why all of us are able to do that is because those worlds are docked to this one or in Konoha's situation have been forcibly connected to this world by a strong enough power, in this case that's Irina's power" he said as he dug through the box he was carrying and brought out the items one by one, placing them on both surfaces of the merry-go-round desk. "If it weren't for that we wouldn't be able to get to them unless it would be at seemingly random times."

"Seemingly random?" Amy asked him, still slightly out of breath.

"They are actually predictable by simple deterministic equations." he told them as he placed a mug with the words "Multiverse's best scientist" on it on the desk. "That's called Chaos Theory by the way. It's actually rather interesting, I have notes on how-"

"Dave?" I said before he could start his scientific babbling. "The machine? It's functions? Different dimensions?"

He shook his head, as if to snap out of a trance. "Right, right, sorry." he cleared his throat "So like I was saying, if what we call the Soul Society wasn't docked to this world we'd only be able to get there at certain times but since it is connected we can go there at any time using the portal we call a Senkaimon, though the portal is still a tad unstable so that's why time moves differently in this world than in that one. Every other dimension is like that too." he threw the empty box to the side and walked over to the arc. "This machine, with the right power source, can actually, permanently or temporarily dock other dimensions to this one that we're in" his voice rising as Link went at the arc with a blow torch.

Amy raised an eyebrow "The right power source being..."

"Me"

All heads turned to the figure leaning on the doorway. The girl was older than everyone else in the room but not by much, with neon orange hair and blue eyes. An aura of quiet power radiating off her as it always did nowadays, because immortality and reasons. She regarded everyone with a nod and a returned "Good morning" when they gave her the same.

"Good morning Irina." David said calmly and though they couldn't really see through the mask, the crinkling of the corner of the Irina's eyes gave it away.

"Morning Navi" she replied, her strange habit of giving everyone nicknames coming through in her speech. In Dave's case he was called Navi because her brother's nickname was Link as in Legend of Zelda. Get it?

There was a series of "good mornings" before Irina took in the sight of the arc. "So this is it, huh?"

"Yup" he answered, popping the p.

"It's fully operational?" she asked, pushing off the the doorway and walking towards them, her white captain's cloak rustling and dark chain around her arm making that metallic clink.

"It will be soon!" Link answered as he kept going at the arc with his blow torch.

"No kinks?"

"None!"

The machine suddenly sparked and lit on fire for half a second and the sound of the mini-explosion was accompanied by my little idiot's shouting.

"Shit! Shit! Shit!" he cursed as he tried to put out flames.

Irina came forward. Without a word, she held out her hand, palm facing the fire. She was silent as the flames quickly flew from the machine and into her hand, forming into a swirling, red-hot sphere. She stared intently at the orb before she closed her fist over it and it died out.

"Fully operational huh?" I asked my brother, with a raised eyebrow.

He threw a wrench at me.

Link cleared his throat and tried to look as dignified as a seventeen year-old boy in a charred lab coat could. "That was just a minor problem, nothing to worry about." the machine came back to life again and he jumped away from the shower of sparks.

Irina didn't look doubtful or deterred "Alright, I trust you Link, if you say it's ready, then it's ready."

Link smiled gratefully "Thanks Cap" he said before reaching into the box next to the merry-go-round desk, which Irina didn't even give a second glance to, and pulling out a black and green laptop.

My eyes widened in recognition "Is that mine?!" I exclaimed as Link placed it on the desk.

"Yes, it is your laptop, which I made for you, so I get to use it for this" he said with. pointed stare. "It's the only laptop in the world that can operate every system of a city the size of New York, so yeah I need it."

"Fine" I relented with a sigh "You break it, you're making me a new one"

"Deal" he said before hooking up twenty four extra ports to the three ports on the laptop. If I wasn't so confident in my brother's abilities when it comes to technology I would have snatched the thing away by then.

"Alright" he said before he went up to Irina with two wires that had cuffs and straps at the end. "I'm gonna need you to put these on, please. Start pumping **_reiryoku_** into those" he told her and Irina complied.

He was suddenly a storm, going back and forth between the control panel at the desk and the arc with no flashing whatsoever. Tweaking something here, adjusting something there, making sure this doesn't explode or that doesn't kill everyone within a twenty-mile radius. Within ten minutes of watching him go all over the place, getting dizzy in the process, the machine was ready, soul crystals glowing blue with Irina's energy, control panel looking like something that would put NASA to shame and the arc, suddenly looking not as shitty as it did when I came in.

"I dinnae hwether ta be impressed or disturbed by yer bruther" Patrick whispered to me as we watched Link work.

"Trust me, you learn to be both" I assured him.

"It's ready!" Link yelled enthusiastically from the control panel. He, finally, flash stepped in front of all of us and had us line up in what he called the safe zone.

"Keep it steady Cap,n!" Irina gave a thumbs up in response.

"This is crazy" Amy said.

Dave smiled at her "You're realizing this _now_?"

Mad Scientist grin fully present, Link turned to us "Ladies and Gentlemen we are about to make history!" he said, holding his finger over the enter key on the laptop. "Dave, countdown!"

"Five!" Dave yelled getting back into the safezone with the rest of us. "Four!"

"Three!" Alexandria suddenly shouted with him and, after sharing a look with Pat and Amy, I shrugged. Why the hell not?

"_Two!_" We all shouted together.

_"One!"_

"WAIT!"

Too late.

My world suddenly went black.

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**There you have it! The new prologue, because i was dissatisfied with how i did this. Hope you don't hate it. Tell me what you think. Review! No flames doe.**


	2. Gone

_**Hello there. Now the reasons why you're reading this is becaus this story is already thing but I hated the way I wrote it at first so here it is. Revised and ready.**_

_**Oh and also because Disclaimer: I don't own anything **_

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**Chapter 1: Gone**

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**Year: X777**

**Location:?**

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**Emerald**

Blackness.

That was all I knew, all I could know when my mind was finally able to process what had happened.

The machine...

The explosion!

No! It had worked, the machine had worked. So why...

It clicked.

I couldn't remember. I couldn't remember anything.

I groaned in pain at the throbbing that began in my head. My body was dead weight, my head and any kind of clear thought shot to hell and all the rest of me lifeless. I don't remember how long I stayed there but I know it was long enough for the air around me to go from dry to heavy with the scent of petrichor. It wasn't that long after, when I heard the sky start to rumble.. I took this as a good sign, my sense of smell and hearing were back.

It took what seemed like hours before I opened my eyes and when I did the world was all grass and dirt and wildflowers and dark gray clouds, heavy with rain. With the thought of crystalline water drops falling from the sky I suddenly realized how weak I felt, how dry my throat was and the surprising fact that I could finally feel at all. Again, good sign.

I tried pushing myself up only for my arms to wobble and give out after less than a few seconds. I tried again and again and I just ended up eating dirt and spitting grass again and again.

I think I would have stayed there forever, would've let myself go and wither away into nothing, letting the elements having their way with me had I not heard the voice of my saviour that and almost all other times afterwards.

_**"Pup" **_I heard, the sound coming out clear, resolute, and strangely calming inside my head. It held a strange timbre to it, like growling, snarling more like but not angrily and despite how low and animalistic it sounded, it was most defenitely female.

"Who" I tried saying but my voice came out as no more than a wheeze. I closed my eyes again and concentrated, clearing my head, making every other voice and the hundreds upon hundreds of quiestion go silent. I tried again. _"Who are you? Where am I?" _I thought weakly, having no energy to freak out about the fact that there was a voice in my head talking to me.

_**"Get up"**_ she told me, her voice reverberating but in more of a commanding way and not the echo everything else made in place of normal sounds where even the smallest little drip or thud seemed to ricochet off the inside of my skull. **_"Get up!"_** She suddenly yelled and, just as suddenly, something in the back of my mind clicked, a certain instict refused for me to disobey my Alpha, the same instincts telling me to adress her as such.

_"I-I can't"_ I think helplessy in response and suddenly I hear snarling.

_**"Stop being so weak!**__**" **_The Alpha's growled at me, and the feeling of shame and submissiveness washed over me. **"You are not some dead-last ****Omega runt! Now on your feet, Emerald!"**

Emerald?

My eyes screwed themselves shut as I was assaulted with flashes of light, noises were going off in my head, cars, horns, crashing metal and hissing, and I was seeing something. It was as if a scene were being projected on the inside of my eyelids. I remembered that I was in an alley, looking down at my broken and bloody arm but the limb looked so much shorter as if it were a child's. I remembered the rat-looking man with the crowbar who ran after me when I tried to swipe two apples from his stand. I remembered a shadow looming over me and yet I felt no fear.

_"Are you okay?"_ the shadow had asked, her voice coming out distorted like I was hearing her from underwater but I could comprehend it enough to know it _was_ a _her_.

I hadn't responded and was blinded by the sudden brightness, I had even raised my arm up to block it. When my eyes adjusted I just stared up at her and found myself awed at how the dazzling light seemed to come from her, like she was this celestial being sent to save me, the street rat from...somewhere. Behind her were huge spires of conrete and metal and glass. They were..._buildings! sky scrapers!_ Structures reaching up to the sky breaking right through the line of low clouds.

_"You got a name kid?" _the girl said to me. I remembered how surprised I was to hear genuine concern in her voice.

_"Emerald"_ I had answered in the high tones of an eigh year-old. _"My name is Emerald."_

Emerald...

Emerald...

_**"Emerald get up!" **_

My head rapidly turned to the right, as if I had been struck and it sure as hell felt like I just was when the Alpha's voice snapped at me. _**"Don't just sit there! Don't give up"**_ she said, the tone of her voice softening toward the end. **_"Please" _**she begged me before her voice became rough and demanding again._** "Get up now!" **_she commanded in her strange voice and my instincts screamed at me to obey and so I did, I forced myself up. I stood. My vision was hazy, my senses dull and my body still weighed down but I stood, albeit unsteadily, I stood and, with my chest heaving, I took a step.

And immediately fell to one knee.

Sheer force of will wasn't going to get me to walk, neither was the incessant tingling in the back of my mind, telling me obey my leader and stand, going to help. "I can't" I tried saying but I just coughed it out again and ended up using what little air I could get in my lungs. I was heaving. It took me so long to be anle to breath normally again but still I didn't risk speaking._ "I can't do it" _I thought, surprising myself when I actually _heard_ the same thought as if my thoughts actually shared my voice. _"Please."_ If I had the energy I would have been surprised at how desperate I had sounded. But, desparate for what? I didn't know what I was asking for but apparently _she_ did.

I don't how it was possible but suddenly sadness bloomed inside of me but the strangest thing was it wasn't my sadness._** "Take what I can give you"**_ she told me and then I doubled over.

There was no pain.

Only power.

Power, pure energy, coursing through my veins just as steadily as blood, something inside of me coming to life and the power, like electricity, striking and ravaging my whole body. But, like I said, I didn't feel pain. I felt _good._

I wanted to laugh. I wanted to cry. I wanted to yell my thanks to whatever merciful goddess was in my head, I opened my mouth to do just that...

But it wasn't words that came out. It was growling, not from the inside of my head but from the back of my throat, sounding akin to anything but a human. My jaw was suddenly tight, my fists clenched so hard that my nails were digging into my already scarred and caloused palms. I suddenly let loose the snarls that were ripping in my throat. Throwing my head back back, I howled. Not screamed, not yelled, _howled,_ and, though I didn't know why, it felt liberating, What was it? I found myself asking.

_**"Reiryoku"**_ The voice answered solemnly. _**"Spiritual Energy, the essence of life itself"**_

I didn't understand what she meant until I looked back down from the sky to see the effect of my howl. An almost imperceptible wave of blue energy, which I suspected was this "_**reiryoku**_" stuff, swept over the field, bending the grass and the flowers in every directions away from me in an outward ring. It seemed as though the very land fed on the current, the patches of previously yellowing and dying plants turning green and coming back to life, a bed of budding flowers on my right were touched with the blue energy and suddenly time seemed to move faster, days and days of growth happening in a matter mere seconds. It wasn't long before the buds bloomed, bursting into bright reds, yellows and violets that dotted the now greener field. It was beautiful beyond any comparison to watch something come to life in front of you but in the end they were just flowers that were going to die at a later time.

I expected silence to follow, to leave me with no sign of acknowledgment of my plights and my pain but instead heart wrenching sobs followed, the emotions that ran through me at the sound of such sorrow almost made me think that it was me who was crying but then I realized the wails didn't sound like me at all, they were that of a little girl's. It was quite a ways away but the sound seemed to be crying and calling out, begging, to me specifically and, with no clear thought in my head, no rational thought, as to what I was doing, I went towards the source, going off of the instinct to "answer the call" and just walked, slowly and clumsily at first with moments where I'd almost fall over but then with more sure steps and longer strides. I don't remember the distance I traveled. Hell, I was having a had time remembering anything at all so I started doing just that.

_"My name is...Emerald...Emerald...Campbell." _I thought, feeling a strange sense of hope in being able to recall something so simple ._ "I am...eighteen? No! As of July 2nd I am ninteen years-old. I am..." _I put my fingers to my temple when the throbbing in my head suddenly came back but with it came something ele_. "I am __the leader. The head of the 14th's Patrol Unit, under Irina Nami- Irina!"_

Orange hair, a black mask covering half of a face I'd only seen once as a child, blue eyes with the beauty to put sapphires to shame. A white cloak, a huge sword, a black iron chain around a left arm. These things and so much more came rushing back to me, events, moments, memories rapidly flowing into my head like water that seeped through a crack in a dam. I suddenly remembered her entrance into the room I was in that morning, her part in the experiment.

_"It was the power of the 14th squad Captain, Irina, that sent me to wherever this is." _I told myself, suddenly angry at what this vaguely known woman had done to me. I was nowhere, with no clue as to who I truly was, save for my name and the scrambled mess that was my memory. _"She did something to me and now they've dumped me here, left me for dead__" _I remembered, anger and _something_ else, coursing through my veins and red, literal red, appearing in my vision, momentarily shocking me so much so that until a sudden flash of light, followed by a clap of thunder, seized my attention I didn't notice that I had stumbled into a town

It was pretty. Quaint and lovely with the "olden village" style it had going on, the buildings made of cobblestone or bricks and their roofs either thatched or covered with ceramic tiles. I then realized the place wasn't a town it was a city. The place was too huge to just be a town. And what a city it was, not completely urbanized like the city from my memory, it was so _green_ so full of nature but it still had the touch of man with sections of it seperated by well kept hedges and big stone arcs like checkpoints and an elegant fountain right in the center of all of it, placed in the middle of a paved, stone path that cut through the middle of the entire city and lead to an enormous structure with yellow outer walls and light gray roofing, that I assumed was town hall or something of the like. The crying was coming from the direction of the towering structure that seemed to get bigger and bigger with each step that took me closer. I would have headed straight for the door had the cries not let me to the eastern side instead.

I would have called the place beautiful with the flowers, well-cared-for grass and that exquisite angel statue at the top of a double staircase, if not for the granite tombstones that were neatly arranged in rows and columns in front me. No, I was wrong. Even those things were beautiful, a word I'd never thought I'd use to describe a cemetary.

I should have been majorly creeped out but instead I felt a queer sense of serenity. There was an air to the place that made me calm, though I did feel like I was trespassing because of the hedges surrounding the place that made it feel as though it was something hidden, some special, secret little place for someone. As though it wasn't a place of death.

And yet, in this place it was everywhere, both death and the dead.

They didn't scare me, though. They were just walking.

Most of them walked in pairs or in groups, a majority of them older, with white and gray hair, glowing but transparent bodies and, strangely enough, _plugs_ on their chests. The plugs looked like the kind you'd have for a pool drain, made to fit on a person's chest, and attached to them were chains, the lengths and number of links varied from each person to the next. The older folks looked peaceful, almost happy as they glided by, their feet phasing right through the grass they thought they were stepping on and waving to similarly aged people, but the younger people, like the young man who was curled up into fetal position in front of a tombstone and crying dry, spectral tears and or the little girl who sat off to the side and held a teddy bear to her chest, rocking herself back and forth and muttering "Mommy, mommy". I thought she might've been the cryer I'd heard but the voice coming from atop the steps, where the angel was, so I went towards there, keeping a wary eye on the ghosts around me.

The passing spirits gave me curious glances that turned to shock when they realized I was seeing them and not just through them. When one of them to too close, out of instinct I reached behind me and drew my sword.

_My_ sword? Why the hell was I carrying a sword?

What was a nineteen year-old girl doing with a frikkin' katana?!

And yet when I held it in my hands I felt powerful once again. The sword seemed alive in my left hand, a strange kind of warmth radiated from the long, steel blade with a tapered tip that had rippled patterns, evidence of the metal having been folded thousands of times upon itself, and glowed with an ethereal energy. I knew that it was the energy the Alpha spoke of; _**reiryoku**_.

The spirits seemed drawn to it, like moths to a flame they gathered around me, the ones who were calmly walking, calmly walked towards me while the ones huddled on the ground hesitantly unfurled themselves and followed. I tensed, unsure of what these ghosts were able to do. In what was left of my memory I could see spirits attacking people but these ones seemed docile, maybe a little sad but not dangerous. Still, I raised my sword as a warning and they maintained a fair distance. They surrounded me, forming a ring of people. An old woman stepped forward and irrational fear caused me to poise the sword to strike.

"She's up there" She said in a soft voice, surprising me. "There was no need for you to come down here for us, dear"

I lowered the sword. Come for them? What the hell was she talking about?

An old man came next and took the old woman's wrinkled hand in his. "We're ready, we all are. We were just waiting for her and now that one of you are here, maybe you can finally end her grief, aye?" he said to me as if he knew me or at least what I was. "Go on up dear but there's no need to rush, we've waited this long, we can wait a little longer" he said encouragingly.

Nothing. I had nothing to say and for a moment I could only stare before I nodded. I sheathed the sword without thinking, so it came a surprise to me when the movement was so fluid and smooth. I took one tentative step forward and they all parted for me, creating a straight walkway to the stairs which I began climbing before I turned back to them one more time and owed my head "Thank you"

The sobbing seemed to get quieter as I climbed up the steps of one set of stairs. Before it was like a beacon calling out to me and now it was just a person, a broken little girl at the top of the steps kneeling in front of the angel statue which I know realized was another grave marker.

At the angel's feet was a tombstone, flanked by two crosses and decorated with the most beautiful flowers. From where I was, I read the name Layla Heartfilia.

But that wasn't what brought me up here or nearly brought me to tears, it was the wails of the little girl kneeling in front of the grave, crying her heart out and watering the stone of the grave with liquid sorrow.

_**"Your eyes"**_

I nearly jumped in surprise when the Alpha's voice said those two words. _"What?"_

_**"Your eyes Emerald" **_she told me, **_"Turn them on"_** the strange reverberating and commanding tone was back.

Turn on my eyes? I would've asked what she was on, had my instincts not taken over and my eyes seemed to shut themselves. If I didn't remember what to do the rest of me did. Reiryoku surged through me, I could feel it, like water running through pipes or blood through veins, the flow was concentarted towards my eyes and when I opened them I literally saw red.

The world was tinted blood red and I could see _everything_. The ghosts down below were suddenly solid again, at least in my eyes, and there were these symbols above their heads. Above the old woman who had spoken to me letters spelled out Merya Stadfeld and next to her the old man had Reynold Stadfeld floating above him. Names, their names and below them were numbers, all of them down there had symbols that somehow translated in my mind as: 00:00:00:00.

The little girls, with hair as golden as the sun that seemed to be missing that today, had a name as well and below that was a countdown. I looked back at the dead down below and my eyes widened in realization.

I was seeing their lifespan.

I flinched, looking away from the little girl's countdown.

_**"No."**_ The alpha said. **_"You have to look, not at the clock. At _her_, look inside of her, inside of her mind."_**

I didn't know how, but I followed her commands and suddenly I was drowning in sorrow.

Thunder rumbled in the distance.

"Please come back!" begged, holding on to mother's grave, tears streaming down her face. At the age of ten Lucy Heartfilia had already grasped the concept of death; once your gone you can't come back, but now she refused to accept it. I somehow knew this just by looking a her. I knew what she knew, and felt what she felt, her sadness, her heartache, her pain, everything.

Tears spilled over my lashes.

Lucy felt abandoned. Her mother was the biggest part of her life. But like the shooting stars that she and Lucy used to watch, she faded away, gone too soon. Nothing would ever be the same.

Lucy sobbed "Why did you leave me?!" She asked, knowing full well that no one would answer. I could do nothing but stand there in silence as all the emotion she let out and all the memories that flashed through Lucy's mind was suddenly thrown at me. I saw everything, every moment, every heartache, every sad smile and I saw it all through Lucy's eyes.

It was as if I was her.

The first memory was of Lucy with Mother and Father in the garden. Mother was reading her fairy tales and Father wasn't working and for once he was smiling at Lucy's face of wonder. Lucy was happy.

The next memory I saw was of Mother again, who was already ill. Mother was getting weaker, paler and thinner too. Father was too busy with work so Lucy stayed by her bedside, Mother would smile and tell her stories and sing Lucy to sleep. Lucy smiled and acted like she was okay but there was still that pit of worry growing inside of her.

The third and final one made my chest tighten. Mother was laying in bed. The doctors let her have her time alone with mother. Lucy clutched Mother's hand like her life depended on it. She cried and cried while Father watched in the corner, silently. She begged, as she did now, for Mother to stay. Mother only smiled and told Lucy she loved her and then she was gone.

"I'm sorry"

It was like getting hit by lightning. I was jolted out of Lucy's memories by that voice that had become all too familiar to me now. At first, it was only a glowing outline that materialized behind Lucy but then the glow morphed into a human shape. Clad in a pink dress, her golden hair up in a bun, the woman's kind, warm, brown eyes shined with unshed tears.

She smiled down at the little girl "Oh Lucy, I love you dear, more than anything in the world...I'm so sorry." She said, her voice cracking and filled with emotion.

I read the name above her head. Layla Heartfilia, the same name engraved on the stone, the same amazing, lovely person in Lucy's memories. There was no clock counting down on top of her head so that meant that the person in front of her wasn't even a person anymore, just a soul like the one's down below, with a plug and chain on her chest. Knowing this I wasn't surprised when she reached out to stroke Lucy's hair and Lucy's didn't even react. I wasn't surprised, I was heart broken.

The deceased woman let a tear slip down her cheek and the drop fell to the ground followed by another and another and then a hundred but not from her, from above. I looked up at gray and black clouds finally letting the crystalline drops that the held fall, as if the sky itself was mourning and grieving along with Layla and Lucy.

"I need you!" Lucy screamed. Lightning flashed and lit up the clouds above us. Thunder rumbled a few seconds after but Lucy didn't care about the rain or getting soaked all the way to the bone, she just wanted her mother back. That was all...

Layla, knowing her daughter couldn't hear her, still spoke "I'm sorry" She inhaled sharply and tried to smile, breaking my heart with that one feeble attempt at giving herself a false sense of security. "My little girl, you're going to grow up to be a strong beautiful woman. But I can't watch you do that" Her lower lip quivered "I can't stay." Layla knelt down and hugged her daughter's sobbing form.

I felt like an intruder. Like some sick psycho watching something between two people that was not meant for anyone else's eyes. Why was I here? I had asked myself. Why had the Alpha guided me here?

_**"To remind you of who you are" **_The Alpha said in an infuriatingly cryptic tone.

I looked at the mother and daughter who were grieving together and yet couldn't _be_ together. _"This is a pretty crap reminder, because I don't remember shit"_ I thought back, having grown impatient with her cryptic and roundabout answers. I widened in my eyes in shock, realizing I had spoken out of turn to someone I recognized as a superior for some reason I couldn't quite explain.

But the Alpha herself wasn't surprised, there was no such thing that I could feel inside of me. She seemed delighted, to have me talk back, she even laughed. A loud, barking laugh that seemed anything but human. **_"You will, in time"_** she said with a smile in her voice._** "For now, you're just going to have to trust me to help you remember" **_

I had a feeling that whoever I was, I did _not_ like following orders or relying on others and yet I felt willing to do so now. I disguised that weakness with an arrogant scoff._ "Trust the voice in my head?" _I muttered sardonically under my breath._ "Easy enough. What do you want me to do?" _

_**"Well to start"**_ she said, sounding more amused than irritated by my snark. _**"You can send her to the other side" **_

_"...what?"_

_**"Draw your sword" **_she said in a tone that didn't leave any room for argument and I didn't really feel like arguing so I did. There it was again; a surge of power that made me feel like I could throw a truck a thousand yards, accompanied by the sound of the dark steel of my sword against the steel of the scabbard that covered it. I liked the sound, it didn't make me want to grind my teeth like I did when it was any other kind of steel against more steel, in fact, it sent a jolt up my spine and suddenly every sense of mine was heightened to its peak, on par with my blood-red vision and I was suddenly aware of everything. Power, rolled of my body in almost imperceptible waves.

With such enhanced sense I didn't miss seeing Layla's back stiffen, as if she felt the energy I exuded. "Will you grant me a Death Wish?"

It took me a moment to realize she was talking to me.

She stood and turned and my eyes were blown wide at the sight. It was like she was wearing a transparent mask, with the youthful and lovely features of Layla Heartfilia painted on it but the horrific truth underneath was all but visible to my eyes. Scars marred the face underneath and the skin of her neck below it, five slashes ran from her right temple down under her left ear and every other spot of once flawless skin was riddle with holes that oozed a pale pink goo. Stab wounds and phantom's blood.

It would have been easy to come to the conclusion that Layla had a damaged soul, that was the conclusion I came to, but the Alpha knew better.

_**"Holy shit"**_ The Alpha said, revealing to me that some things _did_ surprise her. _**"She fought her way back out" **_She said, utterly bewildered

Back out from where? From the Underworld? From the afterlife?

I couldn't have asked these questions fast enough, Layla spoke before I could. "This probably unheard of for your kind, but I feel like you're different." she came closer and closer until she stood directly in front of me, looking down at me, making me realize I wasn't all that tall.

"I see compassion in those eyes of yours, I see humanity." Layla said, reaching out a hand and touching my face and for some reason I froze, letting this stranger touch me as if she was my mother.

I could feel my forehead crinkling and my eyebrows furrowing along with the tightening of my jaw as I scowled, my shoulders sagged as if a weight had been thrown onto them and everything inside of me seemed to darken at the thought of that word.

_Mother._

I hated my own mother. But why?

Layla laughe, shocking me out of my anger. "And you've been hurt." she said as if it was truly a delight to know so. "Good, that means you're not naive or fantastical. You won't trust so easily. That will be good for her"

She said all of this as if she was evaluating me, as if I was an employee applying for a job and she was my interviewer. It made my stomach turn at the thought of being scrutinized in such a way so I told her "What do you want from me?"

It would be the first and last thing I would ever say to Layla Heartfilia.

She dropped her hand and turned her body halfway to look at her daughter, who had fallen unconcious from the emotional stress. "I want you..._need_ you to take care of her. To help her, she won't make it alone and Jude is..." she trailed off, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath but neither of these things helped to stop the tears from welling up in her eys once more. "Please. I can't bear the thought of her having to face the world alone, if she does it will destroy her. So, please, this is my last wish, my Death Wish. Will you grant me this?"

My answer was no. It wasn't my responsibility, my job. I refused this woman and told her I couldn't because I had nothing to give. I didn't even know _what_ I had to give, I couldn't remember. I said no because I would instead find myself, discover who I am and then get back home.

At least I thought I would but before any of those words could come out of my mouth I nodded.

The tears that had started gathering in the corner of Layla's eyes fell but this time they meant more than just her sorrow but they didn't mean her happiness either.

Right then the world exploded in a flash of gold that started to surround Layla. From her chest sprang beams of light, limp and silken like ribbons, that started to wrap around her right shoulder down her arm, to her wrist and then threaded through her fingers. She raised her right arm and touched the tips of her fingers to the dull side of my sword that I realized I still had in my hand.

My eyes widened, my mouth opened in a silent gasp and my body went rigid as I felt the flow of my _**reiryoku**_ speed up and gather at my core. As if I was a match and I had suddenly been struck I lit up, pure white energy gathering around me and mingling with the golden beams of Layla's. These light grew and grew until they were practically beacons, calling the attention of any spiritual creature in existence.

But the golden light started to die and, at the same time the ribbons of gold unfurled themseves from Layla's spectral body and started to wrap around the blade of my katana, until it reached the hilt, then my hand. I felt powerful as the light around me merged with the other but then the ribbons tightened their hold. They constricted around my neck, my wrist, my ankles panic. Fear began to set in, I was trapped and helpless as the golden light shone brighter, causing me to instinctively close my eyes, and began to consume the white light, pressure crashed down on me, making my ears nearly pop and my body collapse but I could still hear Layla's voice as she said "Thank you, Reaper"

The light dissipated and my body went limp as it was once again free from the bindings. I opened my eyes, though they felt like they weighed more than the rest of my body, and saw that Layla was gone. In her place was a butterfly of pure white, save for the golden outlines on its body and the tips of its wings, perched atop something black that was partially concealed by it wings.

Only then did the rain cease. I watched as it fluttered its wings a while and just stayed there, as if it were waiting for something, until it finally took flight.

The grey clouds remained, casting their dark shadows over the world and keeping it from seeing the light, but the butterfly seemed to have no trouble whatsoever as it flew higher and higher to join the swarm of white just like it.

It was silent then, _I_ was silent and so was little Lucy as she she escaped cruel reality while she slumbered.

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**Please don't flame me. Read and review but don't hate.**

**I envisioned this as more of a coming-of-age story. If that makes sense.**


	3. Lost Star (unrevised)

**Next Chapter Go!**

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**I've said it before I'll say it again, I do not own Fairy Tal, Bleach or Death Note for that matter!**

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**Chapter 3: Lost Star**

**Lucy**

Running into a forest that guards had specifically warned her was dangerous was maybe not her best idea but after everything that had happened she didn't even think of the danger.

She had stopped crying a while ago but was on the verge of tears again when she realized she was hopelessly lost.

"I already passed that tree ten times" She muttered to herself looking at a twisted, dead tree that stood right in the middle of her path.

"Someone! Anyone! Please help me!" She shouted out, only the wind responded by blowing a cold breeze towards her that made her shiver and wrap her arms around herself.

She kept walking. Why couldn't this day just end? She wished she could escape all of this for a few hours, escape reality and dream of her mother, still with her, still there to hold her hand and tell her fairy tales. Still there for her to love.

She started to cry again.

"Please! If there's anyone there! I need help" her voice started get quieter, losing hope she barely whispered "I just want to go home."

She kept walking.

Unknown to her, two pairs of eyes were watching. They were blank, lacking pupils, and completely white but you could still see the perverse leer that they directed towards the little girl. Despite their size they followed her quietly, being careful not to make a sound and to not alert her to their presence only the occasional rustling of leaves were the warnings but she mistook them as just an effect of the cold breeze blowing the forest.

When Lucy finally came to a clearing, she collapsed. She was exhausted both physically and emotionally. It was still that same day, just this morning she was kneeling at the foot of her mother's grave. To think about the fact that so much had happened in such a short amount of time made her head spin.

She just sat there for a while, rubbing her sore, red feet. She had rested enough to keep going when she heard the unmistakable sound of a twig breaking behind her.

_Snap_

"He-hello?" She asked, nervously rising to her feet. "Who's there?" She called looking around and walking backwards to put herself against a tree so no one could sneak up behind her.

It was silent again. But she wasn't fooled.

"Show yourself!" She commanded, tired of being played with.

_'Be careful what you wish for' _a voice said in the back of her mind.

Her eyes widened when she saw a tree hurdling towards her. She screamed as she jumped to the right.

She thought she came out unscathed but felt a sudden, sharp pain in her ankle. A branch had clipped her.

Then she could barely dodge the huge fist that came flying at her. She ended on her backside in the dirt, staring up at two ape-like creatures. Her eyes traveled up a gargantuan arm enveloped by green fur with pink hearts going up the side. The monsters towered over her, their muscular, bright, purple chest heaved with every short breath they made.

From the books she read about the creature's that resided in Fiore, she knew that these two were Gorians, Forest Vulcans.

"Hehehe" one of them laughed "Pretty girl." It said

"GET AWAY FROM ME!" Her eyes were wide with fear. She couldn't barely move as she was so afraid. When the same Vulcan made a grab for her she found her strength, she screamed again and ran between the creature's scaly legs only to be stopped when it's partner tried to stomp on her. She dived to the side and rolled away. "Where is pretty girl going?!" The Vulcan yelled.

She ran into the forest, screaming in fear and pain, calling for help as the two Vulcans tore apart the forest, uprooting trees and stomping on the vegetation, as they chased her. She risked a look over her shoulder to see one of the Vulcans pick up a boulder and hold it over his head.

"Come back my pretty!" It bellowed throwing the boulder towards her at an alarming speed.

She ducked and the rock soared over her head and broke into pieces a yard away from her, the impact shook the earth and knocked her off her feet. She heard something metal fall and hit one of the fragments, making a metallic clanging sound. Her eyes scanned over the area and landed on a pure black key with a skull stamped on the bow.

Out of instinct she dove for I and wrapped her hand around the key when one of the Vulcans grabbed her and enclosed its giant fist around her neck. Thankfully it's hand were huge so there was enough room for her to get the smallest slivers of air in her lungs but the monster seemed to realize this and squeezed tighter making her choke.

"LET ME GO!, she screamed but it came out strained and barely audible. Black spots started dancing in her vision and she started getting dizzy from lack of oxygen. She was on the brink of consciousness when she felt her right arm being weighed down more than her left. The key, she realized. She still had it.

She had seen her mother do this hundreds of thousands of times. She had been learning the basics of Celestial Spirit magic when her mother became ill and at seven years of age had managed to succeed in summoning the Water Bearer, Aquarius but could only keep her in this world for five seconds and then she had collapsed from using up all the magic in her container. Bero had said that the amount she had would increase as she grew and trained and even though her mother could no longer assist her she still did.

There was an incantation to summon each spirit. She didn't have a clue as to which spirit the key she held summoned but she couldn't think about that then as the life was slowly choked out of her.

The words poured out of her. She didn't know where they came from or how she knew them but she spoke the words as if she had known them her whole life. "Emerald!" She yelled with what breath she had left and then her vision went black but not before seeing a flash of white light along with a yellow and black blur...

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**Emerald**

She ignored the pounding in her head as she jumped from branch to branch and practically flew through the trees of the forest surrounding the Heartfilia Konzern.

She was hearing voices. Not just her **Zanpakutō**,** Ryūketsu no kemono's **voice but another one that was so familiar and yet she couldn't quite place it, as it sounded more like a faint echo that an actual voice.

But as she kept moving east the voice grew clearer. "_Someone! Anyone! Please help me!"_

Her eyes widened in realization. Her running came to a halt. "Lucy?" She called out tentatively. "Lucy where are you?!" she said, louder. Her head pounded again.

_"I just want to go home**"**_ Lucy's voice said in a sad tone and her headache got worse

She held hear head in her hand "Fuck! Ryūketsu make it stop" She said out loud instead of internally but her **_Zanpakutō_** still heard her and the voices quieted down she could stil hear Lucy's voice but it was low enough to ignore.

_"Ryū, what the hell is happening to me?"_ She said to the spirit residing within her.

The motherly spirit immediate responded. "_**There is something not right with your reiryoku.**"_ She said _**"Something else is latched onto to it and is connected to it, to you"**_

"How? How is that possible?" She muttered both to herself and to the spirit of her sword. Ryūketsu did not answer.

Emerald sighed _"You know what? It doesn't matter, for now, I just have to find Lucy" _she went faster again, going at a speed that would left anyone watching dizzy.

_**"Pup"**_ Ryūketsu said, calling her attention. _**"You seem to care an awful lot about this girl" **_she said her voice almost accusing.

Her eyes narrowed_ "And so?"_

_**"Emerald, you're in the forest searching for this girl who you have no familial bond with whatsoever and wearing yourself out because of it. You're going to such lengths for a complete stranger"**_ Ryuketsu pointed out.

She licked the ring that was looped around her lower lip _"What are you trying to say?" _She said as she jumped up and moved faster through the trees.

The spirit's tone got stern_ **"I'm not trying to say anything. I'm trying to make you actually think about what's important" **_

Emerald realized what she meant.

Getting home.

The thought hadn't crossed her mind once while she had brought Lucy back to the mansion or tucked her in. It hadn't crossed her mind when she explained to the servants, or when she ran out of that mansion looking for the little girl. The only thing she thought about was saving Lucy

Wasn't getting back, back to her brother, to the fourteenth more important than some kid who told her she hated her? Link would be worried sick and was probably working himself into oblivion to think of a way get her back, she would have done the same.

"Ryūketsu...I-"

_"GET AWAY FROM ME!" _

Lucy's voice came roaring back and her head started pounding. "AH!" She clutched her head, her finger nails dug into her scalp, drawing blood. Her foot slipped off the branch and she had fallen down. Her fist pounded the ground hoping the pain would be greater than what she was experiencing in her head and that that would distract her but no such luck existed for her. She writhed on the forest floor, gasping for air and crushing dirt and rocks in her clenched fist.

_**"PUP! Breath Emerald! Breath!"**_ Ryūketsu said "_**Calm down! Focus on my voice. Forget the girl!" **_

"No!" Emerald gasped. Her chest heaved and her blonde hair clung to her face with sweat. "Fuck! She's close!" She exclaimed taking off again, all thought of home gone.

She had found this out as she progressed. She had followed Lucy's essence, her energy and found that the closer she got to Lucy's position the louder the voices in her head got.

She just had to endure the pain.

She surged forward, quite literally going in blind. Her eyes were clenched shut and she relied completely on her other senses. She had barely dodged a tree that stood in her path and scratched her arm on a branch. She ran into the next tree, as it stood in her way and just knocked it down with her fist.

Lucy's panicked screams filled her thoughts and flooded her senses.

Then something felt wrong. The pounding got worse but what made her was the fact that she started feeling Lucy fade. Not just her energy or her magic. It was her life force. Every person's felt different and she was certain it was Lucy's she felt withering away at an alarming rate.

"Shit! Shit! No no no!" She yelled forcing herself to go faster but the forest was practically a maze, she could have taken turn after turn and it still would have taken hours to find Lucy.

Then she heard it. Her mind suddenly cleared, her senses became sharp and focused. Lucy's voice was suddenly loud. "Bloody Beast! Slayer of Souls! god of Death I call upon thee!" The world suddenly disappeared around her.

For not more than a second she saw something, a place. She could only describe the place as made of stars. She turned and faced a pair of looming black gates that seemed to radiate dark energy. She would have taken a step forward and put a hand on those gates if not for her hearing Lucy's voice again. "Black Gates, open! Emerald!"

And then she was gone again. She opened her eyes and she wasn't in that starry world anymore, she was back in the forest. Every muscle in her body suddenly tightened when she took in the sight before her.

She lunged at the monster who held Lucy but it's partner suddenly threw itself in front of her

"Looky! Even prettier woman! You can be my wife!" He made a grab for her but she leaped up into the air leaving the creature to thrust its palm into the ground. She landed on its wrist.

Before it could react she was running up its arm and jumping up off it's shoulder. With a cry she spun in mid air and her foot collided with the side of the monster's head. He went flying off to the side and crashed into an uprooted tree.

Her feet barely kicked up any dust as she landed on the ground again, facing the Vulcan who held a pale, weak, Lucy in it's grasp.

"You can give up!" It spoke in a cocky voice "I not let go of pretty girl. She mine now!" He said, grinning perversely at Lucy's unconscious form.

Then suddenly he wasn't holding the girl anymore. He wouldn't be holding anything anymore. He roared and stomped on the ground like a child having a tantrum. The vulcan clutched the bloody stump where his arm was. He looked down at the severed appendage and then behind him at Emerald who now held Lucy in one arm and her sword, still wet the Vulcan's blood in her right hand.

Her bangs completely overshadowed her eyes, but behind her blonde locks those normally green orbs were blood red, glowing with anger. "You know what?" She said laying Lucy down gently.

The Vulcan blindly charged at her, fist cocked back, not even registering her question but still she spoke "I normally wouldn't stain my blade with the blood of a creature so unworthy. But..."

The Vulcan threw his fist forward but all it hit was the ground beneath it. He looked around for Emerald but froze when he felt the weight on his back and the blade at his throat "For you I'll make an exception" she whispered before jerking the blade to the side.

She held what was left of him by the fur at the back of his severed head as his body fell forward and fell with a loud thud, blooding pouring out of it and onto the forest floor. Emerald wiped the ape's blood of her face, she wrinkled her nose. "Disgusting" she said before throwing the head at the other, unconscious Vulcan still lying in the dirt after she kicked it.

She walked over to Lucy. "Stupid girl" she muttered examining her physical condition. She a bit cold and pale but that was due to nearly being strangled to death. She was covered in grime and dirt but the only real external injury was her ankle, which was twisted and a few cuts and bruises.

Good. She could fix that.

But what bothered her was Lucy's magic reserves. As she had observed this energy, this Magic stuff was just like chakra. That's where it differed from _r**eiatsu**_ and _**reiryoku**, _while those two were measure by how strong it is, magic and chakra was measured by its potentcy and amount. She could feel how much Lucy had left and it wasn't a lot. She had found out from Irina that if someone's chakra reached absolute zero, there was almost no way to save them.

Luckily she had learned how to heal that way. She concentrated and muttered the incantation for the particular _**Kidō**_ spell. Soon her hand glowed with green energy. She held it over Lucy's abdomen, where her container was located. She restored it as fast as she could and then worked on Lucy's external injuries, drawing a little of her restored Magic from her and more of her own _**reiryoku.**_

When she was done she picked up Lucy, not caring that she was covered in blood and was rubbing it off on the girl.

Geting out of the forest proved easier than finding someone in it. She just locked on to a specific person's life force, their essence, in this case it was Supetto and she followed it back. It was easier because Supetto stayed in one place.

She could feel a number of people waiting outside the forest. And the moment she took a step out of it she was suddenly confronted by men in guard uniforms. They wore a blue symbol on their clothes and their banner. A blue cross- no an ankh, a cross with the top of it ending in a loop.

"Put the girl down!" One of them ordered, a young man with black hair tied up, two bangs framing his face, unruly tufts of hair covering his forehead and lavender eyes protected by circular glasses. She put Lucy down gently on the ground and stood, hand up in the air

"By orders of Rune Knights and Jude Heartfilia...The same man stepped forward "I, Lahar, Captain of the 4th Custody Enforcement Unit am placing you under arrest for the kidnapping of Lucy Heartfilia!"

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**And there you have it! **

**Third Chapter done and over with! **

**Now for any of you who think that Lucy is weak please remember that she is ten here. Practically defenseless. She does need the help.**

**Read and Review! Give me your opinion, maybe some advice on how to make this better, which is not hard at this point, Follow it if you want to be alerted when I update.**


	4. Lullabies (unrevised)

**Hello~ Is it me you're looking for?**

**Probably not.**

**Here's your next chapter!**

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**I don't own Fairy Tail, Hiro Mahima does. I don't own Bleach either that is Tite Kubo's**

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**Chapter 4: Lullabies**

**Emerald**

That man, Lahar, had Lucy carried away to get looked at and sent someone to examine the area around where she had found Lucy.

That was all well and good with her but she did not approve of their next action.

Two men came forward, one of them took hold of her wrist and rather roughly jerked her forward and the other reached for her sword.

"Let's go-AH!" She wrenched her way out of his grasp and imitated his action, wrapping her fingers around his wrist and pulled. Hard.

He cried out in pain as she heard the bones move out of place. His partner sprang at her but she yanked the first man forward and threw him against the other soldier. They went sprawling onto the ground.

The other knights surged forward nervously but Lahar ordered to them to hold. "Stop." He said to them. "You refuse to cooperate?" The captain asked her.

She shook her head "Oh I'll cooperate but should any of you try to fucking man handle me again or so much as look at my sword, I'll break more than just an arm." She said glowering at the men who were curled up on the grass and then at the rest of the soldiers.

Lahar's eyes narrowed but he nodded "Alright then." He said simply before heading the mansion, expecting her to follow. And she did.

The men parted for her. As she walked past them she heard their whispers, saying she needed to be taken in and investigated, that she was dangerous.

If only they knew.

Lahar led her through a part of the mansion that she did not recognize. For the most part, it was empty, not a guard or servant in sight. She assumed they were all taking care of Lucy.

_'That's good'_ she thought _'She's going to need someone there.'_

She and the captain stopped in front a large set of double doors which he did not hesitate to open. Inside was the largest room she had seen inside the Heartfilia mansion.

At first she mistook it for a library. The walls were lined with bookshelves that covered every inch of it, there was even a mezzanine, that weird sort of platform, second floor thing they have in libraries, there were at least three columns on the right and left side of the room that reached up to the ceiling and acted as support beams. What convinced her that it wasn't a library was the desk right in front of the window that occupied most of the back wall. It was facing the door a large, rather plush, chair sat behind it with two similar, smaller ones in front of it.

Lahar told her to take a seat. "Wait here" he commanded, remembering her previous statement about cooperating and deciding it was safe to leave her alone in the office as long as he was guarding the door outside.

What little light the room had from the hallway vanished in time with the sound of the door closing. There was sunlight coming from the window but it was the orange light of a sunset. She would normally enjoy such a beautiful sight if not for the day's events.

She sat down in one of the chairs opposite the desk. A plaque sat on top of it next to a stack of neatly piled papers and files. "CEO: Jude Heartfilia" it said.

_'Lucy's Father'_ she thought, the man from Lucy's memories who at one point was such a kind man, a good father and an even better husband. But after Layla was diagnosed he began to change and became what he was now.

_**"A cold, selfish, negligent, workaholic, hard-ass?"**_ Ryūketsu supplied helpfully.

_"Well, yes" _she thought.

She had seen Lucy's memories enough to know exactly how much he'd changed in such a short amount of time. Emerald herself had not grown up with a father, or mother (for long) for that matter, but she knew how he should have treated his daughter and he did not treat her right.

In her thoughts Ryūketsu sighed _**"Emerald I give up"**_ she suddenly said.

She raised an eyebrow. _"On what?"_

"_**On figuring out why you care so much about this girl"**_ Ruketsu said

Something about rubbed her the wrong way "_Why? Wouldn't you help a crying little girl? Wouldn't you save her from being taken by monsters?"_ She asked her inner voice taking a defensive tone.

_**"What do you take me for? A savage? Of course I would!"**_

_"Really?"_ She accused, a sneer creeping onto her features _"Cause it sounds to me like you'd leave her to rot" _she said

Through their link she could feel the shock and anger that Ryūketsu's reactions held. _**"Now Emerald, I care about you and I value your opinion above anyone else's. But don't you dare direct that sort of attitude towards me again"**_ her voice became low, an animalistic snarl ripping out inbetween the words.

Shame washed over her as she took a deep breath a calmed down. This wasn't like her. She did not argue with her Zanpakutō, or tried not to. _"I'm sorry" _she said sincerely. '_I don't know what got in to me'_

**_"Hmmm. Apology not accepted"_** she said playfully which made a ghost of a smile appear on Emerald's face.

_"Bitch"_ she retorted and felt Ryūketsu smile

**_"That's the breeding term"_** she said making her laugh _**"Oh, I forgive you Pup. I simply can't turn away a member of my pack"**_

Emerald smiled warmly_ "And I simply can't stay mad at my real mother" _she said, saying the word mother carefully as if she was saying the word bomb at an airport. Her _**Zanpakutō**_ did not miss this.

She felt Ryūketsu frown_ **"Is that what this is about? Is that why you're so concerned?"**_

_"..Yes" _She pursed her lips_ "When I saw her in front of Layla's grave I couldn't help but see...me, when I was a child, begging and crying for my mother that never came. You saved me and Link. For the next six years of the rest of my life you, Irina and the 14th saved me and I thought that I'd be damned before I didn't do the same to save Lucy" _she said

Ryūketsu remained silent, she knew her past, her life before Irina had found her and before she had discovered she was a Shinigami. She had to watch all of that unfold without being able to say word of encouragement or reassurance because she hadn't unlocked her powers yet.

_**"I'm sorry as well**_" Ryūketsu said before the silence got too long. _**"I should have never question your motives for helping someone. I, of all people, should know that you can't stand to see another child in pain." **_

Emerald didn't answer but nodded.

Soon silence filled the air, not even a mental conversation was struck between them, and the door suddenly opened with a creak, she didn't need to look behind her to know it wasn't Lahar.

Footsteps echoed through the room as the man walked over to the desk and sat down, the chair creaking and sinking slightly from his weight. He looked over her with narrowed cold, calculating eyes. She addressed him the same way except her eyes glowed blood-red.

She could respect someone who was not intimidated by her acid glare, but not this man. He was not respectable to her by any means ever since he turned a blind eye to daughter.

"The servants have told me who you are" He said his hands put together and placed on his desk. "What you can do"

She didn't answer

"And Captain Lahar has told me what you did in that forest for Lucy" he said after. Emerald nearly let her mask slip when she heard his voice and expression soften as he said his daughter's name.

What he said next surprised her to the point of gaping. Jude Heartfilia's shoulders started shaking and his eyes shone "Thank you"

* * *

**Lucy**

She woke with a jolt.

She screamed and sat up, stock straight. Her chest heaved and her eyes were frantic as she searched for the danger previously present last she was awake.

Lucy took in the familiar pink walls and the white canopy over her pink bed.

She was in her room.

Her breathing slowed but she jumped when Supetto burst through the door after hearing her scream "Ms. Lucy!" She screamed.

"Mrs. Supetto what happened?" She asked her vision still spinning slightly. "All I remember is the forest and then...those Vulcans!" She gasped as the memory came back to her.

Seeing she was about to start hyperventilating Supetto rubbed her back soothingly "No no, dear. It's over. You're fine, your back home where you're safe." She reasured the girl until she calmed.

"Emerald saved you" Supetto said after a while. At first Lucy looked confused and almost asked who that was but then came to the realization that it was the same girl who had brought her in from the rain. "She ran after you and in that forest she found you with those monsters and she...she fought them" The Rune Knights had informed the maid of what happened. Since no on else was in the forest except Lucy and Emerald at the time, everyone had come to the conclusion that it was the latter's doing.

"She went looking for me?" Lucy said confused about the situation "She saved me? Even after what I said?"

Supetto brushed her hair out her face "Oh Lucy" she said "You should have listened to her before you ran"

"Why's that?"

"Lucy, she didn't take Layla." Supetto explained "All she did was make sure that she passed on to the other side. They met when Lady Layla was already...gone" she hesitated on the word gone as if she was about to say something different.

The Heartfilia heiress felt shame and guilt wash over her "How did she do that?"

Supetto pursed her lips "It's difficult to explain and it would be much better if she were to do so."

"Well, where is she?" Lucy said, looking around as if she might have been lurking in the corner.

The head-maid shuffled nervously "Well, dear. You're father came home after you ran and when we told him what happened he organized a search for you, when Emerald came out of the forest carrying you they thought that she had kidnapped you and they arrested her" She explained

"What?!" Lucy exclaimed "She's in prison?"

Supetto shook her head "No dear, no" she calmed the girl down once more before explaining "Remember when I said your father came home?"

Lucy nodded

"Well, they thought your father would want to speak with her so the Knights brought her to his office and-"

Lucy didn't let her finish.

She yanked the covers off her legs and jumped off her bed. She started running down the halls of the mansion to get to her father's study which was all the way on the other side of the manor.

She reached the large mahogany doors where a man with glasses stood in front of it.

"Ms. Heartfilia" he regarded the girl "Should you be out of bed?"

She ignored the question "Where's my father?"

He adjusted his glasses "Do not worry. Mr. Heartfilia is interrogating your suspect as we speak" he said as if to reassure the girl but she only reacted with shock.

"No! That's not what happened" She said "She didn't take me! She-"

The door creaked open and the person in question stepped out, her green eyes misty and distracted.

Emerald looked at Lucy with a guilty expression, which the girl returned, and then turned to the man with glasses "He wants us both inside" she said quietly and he looked at her suspiciously but nodded in response.

"Wait" Lucy called after her. "They're not gonna take you away are they?" She turned and gave Lucy a soft smile.

"Don't worry I'll be fine." She said before going inside the study once more.

She leaned on the door, pressing her ear to it and listening closely, which was rather difficult considering the door was solid wood. She could faintly hear the voice of her father.

"-seems like it was a mere misunderstanding, Captain" she hear him say "She did not kidnap my daughter. Quite the opposite actually. So there's no need for me to bother you to stay any longer"

An unfamiliar voice said, so she assumed it was the man with glasses "Are you sure sir?"

"Yes" her father said.

"Alright then. We'll require a witness account from each of the staff and I will return for it in a week's time" The man said "My apologies for the misunderstanding M'lady"

There was a pause "Of course. Thank you Captain Lahar, and please accept my apologies"

The voices quieted down and she heard footsteps. She quickly backed away from the door and sat on the ground.

She pretended to look confused for the glasses guy but Emerald saw right through her and, crouching down to her level, she smirked "You were listening weren't you?"

She nodded sheepishly, a blush gracing her cheeks.

"Smart girl" the older of the two complimented "Then you know I'm off the hook?" she said and Lucy nodded.

"You won't be arrested anymore right?" Lucy asked, her eyes glued to the ground.

She smiled,"Of course not" she gestured to the office door "Come on, go see your father"

"Wh-Why?" Lucy asked nervously. She knew not to bother her father when he was in his study lest she incur his anger,

"He needs you right now." She said simply "Trust me"

"Okay" Lucy said slowly "But first, can you tell me what happened to mommy?" At this, Emerald went stiff.

She licked a ring that was looped around her lip. "Lucy, I promise you, I will tell you everything."

Lucy waited.

"Later." Emerald continued "For now, just please go in there" she pleaded with her.

Before the girl could argue she was suddenly gone in a flash of black and yellow.

She faced the door and gulped before she reached for the handle with a shaking, unsteady hand. She turned it and pushed the door open.

"Father?" she said cautiously.

There was a pause "Come in Lucy"

She took a deep breath before venturing inside, closing the door behind her.

"Lucy come over here" her father said, facing the window, a hand laid upon it.

She nodded before taking small, steps forward. The possibilities churned in her mind.

_'What if he's mad at me for running away?' _She thought nervously

Her father dropped the hand that was leaning on the glass as she got closer.

_'What if he yells at me again?'_

He turned around and she froze on the spot.

Her father, Jude Heartfilia, the man she knew to never show her any emotion other than annoyance or anger looked at her with sad, regretful eyes that shone with tears.

"Lucy" he sobbed. He surged forward and kneeled in front of her. "I'm so sorry" he said before enveloping her in a warm embrace that she had not experienced in a long time.

She was confused, angry. She wanted to hit him, yell at him for once and tell him what a bad father he was. But all she could do was wrap her arms around him in return and cry into his shoulder.

Little did either of them know that a pair of green eyes watched them from the window. A smile creeped into her lips before she leapt into the air.

* * *

**Emerald**

On the roof of the Heartfilia mansion she sat, a beautiful view of the valley below within her sights and a gentle breeze keeping her cool, the moon hung high above her head and cast its silvery light on her

Unfortunately, none of these things offered her comfort as she replayed the day's events over and over in her head. She pulled her legs against her chest, licked her lip ring nervously and closed her eyes.

Just this morning she was fooling around with her brother. Link had playfully thrown a pillow at her and she retorted by throwing him out of her room. Then an hour later she was standing in front of that damned machine and minutes after that she was suddenly not home anymore and she had landed here. And then this shitstorm hit and soon she was running through a forest, slaying ape monsters and being arrested. She longed for those little moments of peace at home, in her room, reading a book. She wanted to feel the rush of adrenaline pumping through her veins as Irina easily overpowered her in training. She wanted to tell her little brother she was proud of what he'd become. She was homesick already, and it had only been one day.

After all of that she had stayed strong. She had not let anything get to her, not even Lahar's claim to arrest her.

But then she had spoken to Jude. And that was it, that conversation was the straw that broke the camel's back. It had shaken her. It made her question what she always thought to comfort herself.

"Thank you" Jude had said, letting tears drip down his face. "I've been a horrible father to Lucy" he started as Emerald watched him in shock. Her eyes searched and scrutinized him.

Something tugged on her heartstrings as she felt the deep pit of shame and regret that Jude held within him.

"Please tell me what happened in that forest" He pleaded with her.

She pursed her lips before telling him of the chase. She watched as his expression changed from worry when she told him of her feeling Lucy's life fade away to anger when she described the scene she arrived to.

"That thing had its fist around her throat." She said feeling her chest tighten as it did before when she first saw it happen. "He was choking her without realizing it and he called her his "pretty girl"." She thought of those perverted leers and grins they gave her and Lucy, a ten year old-girl. She feared to think of what might have happened had she not found the girl in time.

"My vision went red and I just made a break for her" She described the battle. He did not seem disturbed when she mentioned beheading the monster, in fact, he looked satisfied that she did do so.

After recounting the event they sat there in silence.

"You can probably see right through me with those eyes of yours" he said "So you know how I truly feel about this." He said and she did.

He felt guilty that he wasn't there to protect his daughter that he was basically helpless and useless during this. She walked up to the desk and asked him to lift his head. His brown eyes met her red ones.

She felt the familiar flow of thoughts and memories in her mind as she replayed Jude's recent experiences

It had been a month since Layla passed. He still dreamed about her, still woke up expecting to see her on the other side of the bed.

But, of course, she wasn't.

He didn't even get the chance to say goodbye before she was gone like a candle that burned out. When he had found out, he wanted to scream to break anything or just disappear. A piece of him was missing, he was nothing without her.

In his dreams he felt like he could get to her. He needed to reach her. To say he missed her, that he was so, so sorry. She had taken so much with her and left the worst with him.

Everything reminded him of her. The chocolate brown curtains in his room that were the same shade as her eyes, the closet full of clothes that still smelled like her, the yellow roses that lined the hedges that were the same gold as her hair. He couldn't bear any of it.

So he distanced himself from home and busied himself with work. He ignored Lucy during the rare time they ate dinner in each other's company and avoided her altogether when he was home. He just couldn't face his daughter, the mirror-image of Layla and not break down. He had not visited the grave since the actual funeral and when Lucy had asked him to come with her all of the pain and anger just burst out of him. He was ashamed to feel cathartic about taking out his frustrations on his daughter he proved this with the tears he shed that night.

On this trip, before he left, he promised himself he would make this right. He would apologize to Lucy, beg for her forgiveness if need be and make up for lost time.

He even bought her a present. Knowing she was training to be a mage he bought her a magic utility belt, with a key ring that had an anti-theft enchantment casted on it. There was also a loop for her whip, and he had begrudgingly decided to buy her a few knives, knowing how dangerous being a mage was, that went into one of the pouches of the of the brown leather belt.

He came home with a smile on his face, a sight that had become rare over the month and entered the mansion, ready to face his daughter. But what he was met with was the grim faces of the staff.

When he was told of what happened his breath had stalled and he was in shock. No he had thought. This couldn't be happening. He had still had a chance. A chance to make it all right. She knew he could've just sat there and fell apart.

But that's not what happened. He stood up and sent his fastest messenger to the nearest town to alert the Rune Knights in charge. He was not disappointed when even the captain of the local branch, Lahar had showed up.

He asked them to find his daughter. But did not let his tough exterior crack in front of them. He alerted them, that there might someone else in the forest searching for Lucy but they did not ask for details. So when he had found out that Lahar had arrested Emerald, the girl whose deeds the staff had informed him of, he made a B line for his office as he was informed she was there.

He ignored Lahar before entering the room.

"I couldn't take it" he had said after she searched his mind "I couldn't face Lucy after what had happened I didn't want her to see me so weak and ended up taking out my anger on her." He said his head hung down in shame.

She kept quiet letting him drown in his sorrow a while longer "Don't give me your excuses"

He lifted up his head to look at her "And don't give them to Lucy either " she said "Cant you see you shot this family a world of pain? You have to fix it, to heal the rift and giving her excuses won't do that." She told him

He remained silent

"Now put on that's strong face. I'm calling the captain in so we can clear this up" she informed him before heading to the door where she found Lucy speaking to Lahar.

And everything else followed.

She opened her eyes and let go of her knees, letting herself fall backward onto the tiled roof of the mansion.

She looked up at the moon and at the stars that aligned themselves in the same way they did back home. It was the same sky, still so close but so far away.

* * *

**Reviews and favorites feed my will to write. Otherwise I just feel like I'm doing a shit job**

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	5. The Price to Pay (unrevised)

**Okay Im about to pull an Ares ;"I am so sorry!"**

**Ive just been kind of discouraged.. umm. I would like to thank GrayBlueEyedBelle for being awesome and reviewing every single chapter (Buti pa siya). With the lack of positive response to the fic I feel disc****ouraged but when I find out that you've reviewed I get the urge to write again even if it's just for you and a few other people. As long as someone likes it, I guess.**

**Oh and thank you to Leoslady4ever for being a good person.**

**But you don't need to know about that! On to the next chapter!**

* * *

**Chapter 5: The Price to Pay**

**Year: X777**

**Location: Heartfilia Konzern**

**Emerald**

"Grate of the Lyre, I open thee!" Lucy yelled with all her might "Lyra!"

Emerald squinted against the flash of golden light that was accompanied by the sound of a bell. Bero, who watched with a serene smile, didn't seem affected by the blinding light at all.

When it finally died down standing in front of them in the garden of the Heartfilia Manor was what she knew to be a spirit who looked like Little Bo Peep because of the pink bonnet she wore that covered part of her auburn, waist length hair she had petite features and rosy cheeks that seemed to go along with the look. Small, angel wings looked to be either attached to her back or sewed onto her dress.

Somehow she curtsied effortlessly in her blue dress and didn't seem weighed down by the large, turquoise harp on her back. "Oh a new summoner!" She said in a soft, sweet voice. "It's nice to meet you" she said politely

"Wow" Lucy looked up at her in awe "You're really pretty!" She said in an innocent, cute way that made the blush on the spirit's cheek more apparent.

"Oh how kind of you to say!" She said "I have to return the compliment by saying you are just the cutest thing!" She gushed.

Lucy smiled at the spirit "Thank you!" She said cheerfully "Now for you're contract" she said getting down to business by using what Emerald called her "No fucking around face" (Behind her back, of course, as she was too young to hear those words). Lucy's eyebrows would furrow, her lips would press into a thin line and her arms folded over her chest.

Lyra nodded "Right" she said "Though, I suppose I should explain what I can do-" she said but Lucy waved her hand dismissively.

"No, you don't have to" Lucy said "I already know about you're singing and your harp"

Lyra seemed flattered "A summoner who finally knows their stuff? And to be so young!" She shook giddily "Ooh we're going to be good friends"

Next to Bero, Emerald raised a hand "I'm sorry." She said speaking up "But you're Lyra the _Lyre_ right?" She asked knowing she must have sounded a little clueless.

The spirit nodded "Yes, that's right"

"So uh, why do you use a harp instead of a lyre?" She asked

She gave her sweet laugh "Well that quite simple. I..." She tilted her head and put a hand on her chin "..don't _know_"

Emerald sweatdropped.

"Best not to question it" Bero said right as Emerald opened her mouth to say more. He turned to his student "Now let's discuss the contract"

Lucy nodded, knowing this process from Bero's teachings.

"You can't summon me on any day of the the first week of the month I'm afraid, there are too many people who summon me during those days." Lyra explained happily as if she enjoyed the work. she continued discussing her days with Lucy while Emerald hung back with Bero

"Interesting" Emerald commented "There has to be a specific day or amount of time for each spirit to be summoned?" She asked Bero who nodded slowly

"Amount of time? No." He said "But specific days? Yes. These spirits have lives of their own, in ther own world. It would be rather rude to disrupt those lives when they're in the middle of something important, so we have contracts that state when they are free or able to be summoned."

It was easy enough to understand "So what if you summon a certain spirit on a day they shouldn't be summoned?"

"It depend on the spirit, some spirits don't like it if there's a breach in the contract but if it's an emergency they will help you"

"Help." Emerald repeated "Help how? What are their combat abilities?"

Bero tilted his head "Well, it varies from spirit to spirit." He tilted his head to point at Lyra "Take Lyra over there for example. She isn't much for fighting. A great singer, she is but not a fighter. Other spirits are more combat based, such as the spirit of Leo."

"The lion?" Emerald inquired

He nodded "He has great physical capability and usually if he is summoned, it is mostly to fight his summoner's enemy. Other spirits are also more for combat such as Aquarius, Sagittarius, Taurus and a few other, they will fight for you if you wish."

"But wouldn't summoning them to fight just be you sitting back and watching them fight your enemy?"

Bero's usually serene expression was replaced by a wrinkly scowl "That is a common misconception with Celestial Spirit Mages. But you should know that it is never that way, a summoner should not use their spirits in such a way as to use them as tools or shields. They fight alongside their spirits and even if they are not fighting directly they are still doing battle through the spirit."

Only a little affected by the old man's sudden mood souring she scratched the back of her head, "How is that?"

"I assume you read those books I gave you a bout how magic works, correct?" When she nodded he continued "Well it takes energy or rather it takes a certain amount of magic to open a gate to the Celestial Spirit Realm and it also takes energy for you to keep the spirits here to fight for you, a lot of it. Lucy over there, just keeping Lyra in this world is already costing her magic, but the magic in her container hasn't even lost an eighth." Her said the part about Lucy with pride.

Emerald nodded. She looked back at Lucy and Lyra who carefully discussed their contract. It amazed her that that little girl has so much of this magic energy. Then again, when she had healed Lucy a month ago in forest she noticed how depleted her container was.

_**"She summoned you" **_Ryūketsu told her, just as Bero explained "**_In that forest. That would explain why she was so spent"_**

_"It would" _she answered _"But the strange thing is that she doesn't seem to be losing any magic after summoning me"_

Lucy's voice pulled her out of her thoughts "Okay!"

Lyra nodded in delight "Then it's agreed. I'll be available every Wednesday of the second week of the month, because I have Mondays with Duke Everlue and his..."she shuddered "beauties. And you can also summon me every Thursday and Friday of the third week of the month"

All of this memorization and specifying made her head spinmto no end but Lucy seemed to understand perfectly. "Ok then, thank you Lyra" she said before the spirit curtsied and then disappeared in the flash of light from whence she came.

Lucy jumped up and down in joy "Grandpa did you see?! I did so well!" she said proudly

Bero clapped and smiled at her "Yes you did. Good job Lucy"

"Does this mean I'm ready for another gold key?" She asked with a determined look.

Bero shook his head "Hold on there. You're not ready for that just yet." He explained and she deflated a bit "You still need more training, summoning them will be easy for you but keeping them here will drain you too fast"

She pouted "But Grandpa, can't Emerald-nee just heal me so I can try it again?"

"Lucy." Emerald said condescendingly "You do realize that if I keep doing that I'll get tired right?"

Lucy nodded in understanding "Ohh, okay. Sorry nee-san" she said bowing her head.

Emerald smiled and ruffled the little girl's hair "It's fine. I tell you what" she said and Lucy payed full attention "Since you were so good today, I'll help you with your combat training along with Capricorn. How does that sound?"

Lucy beamed "Yes, please!"

She laughed "Alright go on and get dressed" the little girl ran excitedly up to her room to change into the training clothes that her father had bought her.

She sensed Bero's stare on her as she watched Lucy "Incredible" he said "She's never been this close to anyone other than Layla and for her to warm up to you in such a short amount of time..." He trailed off giving her a smile.

"I can't figure out what it is either" she admitted "It's like I feel connected to her somehow"

"Such is the bond between a summoner and her spirit" he said, knowing full well what she was. She had told every person withing the household her complete story and the had all believed her and welcomed as a part of the family.

"Is that so?" She said to no one in particular

**_"I certainly think so"_ **Ryuketsu's answered her _**"It's only been month, or at least five weeks, since that day when this mess started and you and Lucy have already become like sisters."**_

That was true. She had gotten closer to the staff and actually let them breach the walls she put up to keep others out. There was something about everybody here that made her want to open up, she hadn't had a connection lie this with anyone outside the 14th in forever.

But the most amazing transformation she'd seen was that of Jude's. He'd gone from the kind of person Emerald would literally beat a lesson into, to a good father, who would spend time with his daughter, read her bedtime stories, encourage her training, and show her the love and affection she had gone without for years since her mother began getting ill.

Just two weeks ago he had cancelled a business trip to Crocus because Lucy had caught a cold.

It was astounding seeing such an abrupt but welcome change happen and she was quite happy that she had instigated it all.

"_**No"**_ Ryuketsu's corrected_ **"It was all because of your deal with Layla."**_

A cool, pleasant, breeze blew through the garden at the thought of the woman.

The day's training session suddenly replayed in her mind. "Grandpa Bero" He turned to her with a hum "How binding is the contract with a Celestial Spirit and when is it considered void or when is it broken?"

"Well there are three ways it can be considered null." He rubbed his chin thoughtfully "One way is if the summoner repeatedly breaches the contract. A certain spirit who enforced the rules has the power to break the contract himself. Another way is if the summoner decides to release the spirit from his or her service"

Emerald licked her lip ring "What if the summoner is dead?"

Bero looked at her curiously "Well if the summoner dies then yes, the contract is no longer-"

Sh shook her head and stopped him "No. I mean what if the summoner is _dead_. A spirit herself, a ghost?"

"Ah you mean your situation" he nodded in understanding "Unfortunately dear, I have never encountered such a situation but I think it is because you are a spirit of the afterlife that Layla soul was capable of making a contract with you. As for how it's still binding now that she's crossed over...I'm afraid I don't know. Sorry dear"

She sighed and ran hand through her short blonde hair. "That's okay" she said "Thank you grandpa"

Just in time, Lucy came out of the mansion skipping in what looked like a replica of her shihakusho in white. Ora had sewed this for her when Lucy had complimented the style of her own robe. Maybe it was rather morbid for a young little girl, so full of life to wear the clothing of the dead but hey, it looked damn good on her.

"I'm ready" she said happily

Emerald laughed and ruffled the girl's hair "So you are. Now where's Zoldeo? We need him to summon Capricorn"

Lucy pouted "I looked for him but he wasn't anywhere in the mansion."

"Odd" Bero said "I told him you'd be training today"

Emrald stepped up "I'll locate him" She stared off into space. She had gotten used to and gotten to know the the life force, the feeling of everyone in the Heatfilia Konzern and locating one of them was no problem.

As Lucy had said he was not anywhere in the mansion. Her eyes closed in concentration as she reached out farther beyond the borders of the Heartfilia Konzern. The nearest town. That where he was, in Valencia. In a dark narrow space, he wasn't alone he could sense more than one presence with him including Capricorn's. He had the key.

She could sense the people with him radiated dark energy. The kind that made her feel cold when her own energy reached out to touch their's.

She drew back and her eyes opened slowly. She calmly smiled at Lucy. "Lucy, I forgot Zoldeo's on a trip to visit his home town." She lied not wanting to worry the girl, she noticed Bero raised and eyebrow at the tone of her voice "How about we just pick up training tomorrow?"

Lucy pouted, but did not argue "Aww. Okay." She said and Emerald said thank you "But tomorrow you're gonna teach me how to throw the knives daddy got me" she said and it was not a request. Good, the girl knew what she wanted.

"Of course princess" she said, bowing in the same manner her spirits did.

Lucy cheerfully skipped back into the mansion, leaving her teachers in the garden.

As soon as the door shut, Emerald's face shifted from her calm, easy expression to a stoic, cold one that was hidden from Lucy. "He's making a run for it" she deduced "And he's taking Capricorn with him."

Bero's expression also turned hard and angry "That boy. What is he thinking?"

"I sensed another person with him, strong, dark type." She said as she starts walking, fast paced, into the mansion, the old man doing the same. They kept their voices low and their faces calm, as though they were just talking about Lucy's training, as to not alert the other members of the staff.

They made their way through the interior and out the front door. The guards let them through without any trouble. They still just walked as they were still in the sights of the men.

A long sigh issued from Bero's mouth "I suspected this for a while now." He said rubbing the bridge of his nose in true old man fashion. "When I asked him for Capricorn's key after your arrival he refused saying that he did not need me trying to butt in on his business and trying to stop him from doing his duty." He said as they crossed the valley, now walking rather impatiently.

"Sounds overly defensive and guilty to me" she said "Or he could have just been taken back by your sudden request" she doubted it but she couldn't rule out any possibilities just yet until she knew exactly what was going on.

Bero shook his head "Regardless we cannot let him leave with a piece of Lucy's rightful inheritance." He pointed out. He bumped her hip slightly with his staff to signify that they were out of sight.

She quickly grabbed his wrist and pulled him onto her back where he, strangely enough, did not complain or ask, he just held on with his staff against her neck. It did not choke her, she'd had an eight year old strangle her harder from the fourteenth. She started running. Not too fast, at first as she was concerned for Bero but when he kicked her in the ribs she really started booking "Don't be concerned for me dear! Just go!" He said over the wind whistling in their ears.

The disappeared into the forest, out of the eyes of anyone as she was moving through the trees, every so often she would ask Bero if he was okay. She had an arm stretched over her head that held on to Bero's neck so he wouldn't get whiplash. It was uncomfortable but that was a small price to pay.

Soon they were at the border of Valencia and they sped through the town without alerting any of the locals. They stuck to the rooftops, flash stepping from roof to roof, she felt he was in a tight space so she suspected he was in an alleyway and sure enough on the eight one they checked his magic flared and she located him easily. It was an alleyway with little to no light, even in the middle of the day, the walls and the ground was covered in grime and dirt and the narrow space smelled like garbage.

But despite this two people stood there speaking as if nothing was wrong.

Standing in the alley was a little girl, who didn't look that much younger than Lucy, maybe seven or eight. She had short pink hair and bright green eyes but the look on her face betrayed that cheerful light, it was blank, emotionless, but haunted as if this child had seen so much more than she should have at her age. Her companion was one Emrald recognized.

She had taken note of him and his dark aura since she first came to this world and so his face was all too familiar now. The black, puffed up hair that looked like someone took too much time with it using hair dryer was kept back with a patterned headband. His eyes were sunken and had dark rings under them, matching his pale complexion and ghastly ghastly appearance were strange stitch-like scars that extended from his mouth.

"Zoldeo" Emrald muttered looking down at him "But who the hell is that with him?"

"She might be in danger" Bero said, looking at the situation in the most predictable manner. A tall, gaunt looking man and a little girl together in alleyway didn't exactly look normal.

_**"Pup"**_ Ryūketsu called _**"Do you sense it? The dark intention, not just Zoldeo's" **_she said

She mentally nodded then shook her head for Bero "No." She answered his previous assumption.

"She might be a little girl but feel that." She said referring to the dark and cold feeling that seemed to be ensnaring their senses. "That's from her, not him" She closed her eyes and focused her hearing.

"-Master does not accept weak trash" the little girl said in a cute, little girl's voice but the tone was all wrong. It was as if it was a machine speaking.

"I know, I know" Zoldeo answered in annoyance "You've said that already. I may be just trash now but I have Capricorn's key, a zodiac spirit, one of the strongest, and when I merge with him I'll be even more powerful!" He threw his head back and laughed. The girl did not look impressed.

"It's not enough to just say so." She said in her strange robotic way "You're going to have to prove your worth"

He looked ready to strangle her "What the hell do you want me to do?!" He demanded.

"Well.." She said slowly and for some reason Emerald tensed "You can start by taking out the trash on the roof!"

_**"Emerald move!"**_ Ryūketsu warned

Her eyes flew open just in time to see teal blades of pure magic energy flying towards her. "Hold on jiji!" She said to Bero before leaping into the air.

She bobbed and weaved through the blades, sensing they were not just ordinary magic swords. One that got too close was deflected with a hand surrounded by _**reiryoku**_.

They landed in front of the two with a soft thud. Bero jumped off her back and raised his staff and keys.

The little girl tilted her head and looked at Emrald curiously "Interesting" she said in her monotone way. She turned to Zoldeo and pointed back at her.

"They are your test" she said "Eliminate them" she commanded and the man's face broke into a grin.

"With pleasure" he said stepping up as the girl turned away from them and started walking out of the alley

"Not so fast!" Bero said and grabbed a golden key from beneath his robe. His staff glowed with magic energy and transformed from a wooden walking stick to a five-foot-long steel Bō staff.

He started running towards the girl. "Arises to serve me!" Zoldeo suddenly yelled, a stream of magical runes stemming from his fingers "Hero of Rubengard: San Jiao Shin!"

"Bero, watch out!" Emerald yelled seeing a green blur move towards him.

He barely had time to turn around and raise his staff before the blur brings its blade down. A metallic clang echoes through the dark alley.

Bero struggled against the person who towered over him, inching the point of his enemy's blade away from him with his staff. With a final push he forced his opponent to jump back.

The man landed gracefully on his feet and poised to attack once again. Only then did Emerald get a good look at him.

Standing there in a fierce warrior's stance was a large man wearing green war robes. He had a halberd pointed at Bero's chest. Something seemed amiss with the way he stood. In motion he was graceful, his movements fluid and he held his spear like it was an extension his arm but the way he stood motionless in his stance looked too rigid and stiff for a warrior.

"What the hell? Is that a Celestial Spirit?" Emerald asked taking up a stance of her own next to Bero.

He shook his head "That's no Celestial Spirit that's an actual human being or rather the spirit of one" he scowled. He was no longer the kindy, serene old man he portrayed and in his place was a veteran Mage, someone who had already seen the evil of the world and fought against it. He had told her of his travels as a mercenary back in his youth and he told her how he had fought Layla when she was just a teenager, he had won but he could not find it in himself to finish her and that was when Layla welcomed him with open arms and brought him to her home as her teacher.

"Zoldeo!" Bero yelled, enraged. "You vowed to serve the Heartfilias, you pledged your loyalty to them, to lady Layla and to her daughter. Yet, here you are trying to steal what is rightfully Lucy's. Why?!"

In response, Zeldeo smiled "You ask me why. Well, simply because I want to!"I refuse to serve a spoiled little girl" He suddenly threw his head back and laughed "You honestly thought I'd want to stay a lapdog like you two?"

"A lapdog am I?" Bero growled before charging straight at Zoldeo.

"San Jiao Shin!" Zoldeo yells with a confident smirk "Protect me"

The summoned warrior that had remained silent and still sprung into action. He ran with surprising speed for someone of his size and once again exchanged blows with Bero.

"Get out of my way!" He yells before jumping back and twirling his staff over his head. The warrior, San Jiao Shin, stand ready.

Beri lashed out, swinging his staff and aiming for a solid blow to the man's midsection. The man crouches and raises his arm to block. The staff slams against San Jiao Shin's forearm and the sound of bones breaking reaches Bero's ears.

The warrior's arm hangs limply by his side and his face clearly shows the pain but he does not stop fighting and trading blows with the old man. San Jiao Shin sweeps his staff low but Bero, even in his old age is fast and light on his feet. He jumps up before planting his feet on the blade pinning it down momentarily before the former general forces it back up and the old man jumps into the air again, using the blade as a spring board.

The warrior looks all around him for Bero but doesn't check the most obvious place.

Above him.

Bero hold his Bō over his head as he descends and the moment San Jiao Shin looks up he brings his staff down against the general's shoulder.

Once again a pained look crosses the man's face, a grimace etched on to his features as an audible crack and pop that indicates his shoulder's been dislocated is heard, but still he stood stubbornly in Bero's way.

"What the fuck are you playing at?" She asked surprised that he still a mangled to stay upright "Stand down!" Emerald commands, confused as to why he would to such length just to stop Bero, but San Jiao Shin but he shakes his head.

"As my master wishes so shall I obey" he said in a monotone voice, much like the young girl that had been previously present.

"Your master?"

Out of the corner of her eyes she saw Zoldeo mumbling something else outstretch his palms towards her

In purple flashes of light, five knights appear and surround her leaving her no room to run.

"Destroy her!" Colder orders and the knights charge straight for her at the same time, their swords and spears ready.

Naturally, having been wielding a longer weapon, one of the men carrying a spear got to her first and thrust it forward, toward her chest. She bends backward and it sails over her head, she bend back far enough to see a swordsman swing down at her, she grabbed the shaft of the spear out of midair, straightened back up, whirled around, and raised the spear to block the man's blade.

The blade lodges itself an inch into the thick wood and the knight struggles to pull it back with Emerald keeping a tight hold on the spear. She kicks him square in the chest and he lets go of his weapon, the wind thoroughly knocked out of him, and staggered back only for his opponent to flash forward and chop at the side of his neck. He falls to the ground. She throws the staff to the ground and it clatters against the cement of the alley.

The other knights watch anxiously as she steps forward toward their master "You think this is enough to take me down?" She asked taking a bother step forward. The knights shuffled back nervously.

She scowls and sneers, exposing overly sharp canines. An almost animalistic growl rips up her throat. "You're insulting me" she snarled and then she was gone.

The men all frantically searched for her, scrambling away from each other. Suddenly one yells and they only see a flash of black and yellow before one of their own is on the ground clutching his abdomen in pain. Another flash, and another one of them go down. The two remaining men stood firm and strong despite the fearful looks on their faces. Those looks are replaced with surprise when Emerald suddenly appears in front of them and suddenly kicks on of them into the wall left of them. The remaining one watched this and could not do anything but clutch his neck and gasp and splutter for air when she punched him in the throat.

She had reminded herself beforehand that she had not weighed all of their actions, thus she had no reason to kill them. Yet.

She glared at a shocked Zoldeo who took a step back and scrambled behind San Jiao Shin

"Please just stand down!" She hears Bero yell, only then did she remember he was still fighting the general.

It was clear that Bero was winning. The general was bloodied and beaten, both arms broken, forehead split and bleeding, and with the way he grimaced when he breathed and didn't clutch his chest told her that he had broken ribs.

"Why do you still fight?!" Bero demands.

San Jiao Shin grimaces "As my master wishes, so shall I obey." He repeated with his labored breath.

Ber's face hardens "So be it." He charged again, this time the man could barely do anything except serve as a target when Bero slammed the side of his staff into his chat sweeping him off his feet and landing him flat on his back.

Bero jumps on his chest and scowls down "I'm sorry" he said before his staff glowed again briefly only to die down and reveal it had shifted into a spear. He plunged it down

Instead of the cracking of bones or blood spurting our from what should have been a fatal wound the war general just disappeared in a dull flash of light. In that instant Emrald felt his presence leave that world.

"What the hell?" She muttered and looked back at the knights she had taken down only for them to fade away just as San Jiao Shin did.

All eyes turned to Zoldeo when he started laughing. It sounded full, as I he was actually laughing at something humorous but it turned into a dark, cackle. "Oh my, I believe I've made a mistake!" He said wiping a tear from his eye.

"What the hell are you talking about?!" She demanded "And what did you do to those men?"

He didn't seem to hear or care about what she had said over his psychotic laughter "Here I was thinking that Capricorn would be perfect...when _you_ were there for the taking the whole time!" He burst into another fit of laughter "And you're not even an actual human. It's perfect! How foolish of me not to have seen!"

Her hand drifted to her sword when he took a step closer. She wasn't afraid of him. Form what she could sense he could never beat her in a straight up fight but she knew just by looking at him now that he was unstable, and there was no telling what a person like that was capable of or willing to do. She could hardly believe that this was the same polite, young man who had summoned Capricorn for her to train with Lucy just a day ago.

Zoldeo suddenly pulled out something from his pocket "You wanted this, right? Here!" He throws the shiny gold object at Bero "Take it! I don't need it anymore"

The Key of The Goat landed in Bero palm easily and the old man quickly slipped it in a compartment under his robes. "What are you planning, boy?!"

To their utter surprise he actually answered them in a sane manner "I plan to make your body mine Shinigami!" He laughed darkly. He took another step forward and Emrald put her hand on her sword. "You took down my knights without even breaking a sweat and all without using your abilities. When I have your body, your powers! I will be invincible! Then Hades will have to accept me!"

Faster than either of them thought he could move, he put his fingers up and another flash of light illuminated the alleyway, Emerald evaded its glare but Bero, being used to it, stood ready.

The arrows came flying at the, faster than the light had dissipated. Bero swatted the one aimed at him with his stick-turned-staff-turned-spear while Emerald simply caught it an inch from her face, the arrows suddenly came at them three at a time. Bero twirled his staff with enough speed to divert them when they can in contact with his spear and Emerald simply dodged them, having trained with someone who was an even faster shot she had gotten used to fighting an archer, particularly their ally Ulyana.

While whoever was shooting at them was good, the 14th's resident Quincy was better and training with her guaranteed improved speed and agility, two skills that were currently serving her well.

She was moving closer and closer to Zoldeo as she evaded arrow after arrow, her goal was to knock him unconscious but as she was close enough to just flash to him and grab him without being easily shot, the temperature suddenly dropped.

She turned towards him to see he had pointed his palms at her, a disturbing grin splitting his face "Huma Raise!"

**_"Pup!" _**Ryūketsu screamed in her head, remaining quiet until that moment, knowing she would just disturb her wielded as it was a non-Soul Reaper fight _**"Get out of there!"**_ She said but she was a little too late.

Her world transformed when Zoldeo fired black, magic energy at her. She wasn't in the alley anymore. No, where she was was cold and grey with a mist and a forbidding chill hanging in the air. She was surrounded on all sides by shadows, _human_ shadows or what looked like them.

The silhouettes stood upright, as if they were solid, before they melted into the black soil beneath her feet and started towards her...

* * *

Bero had taken Zoldeo's archer down easily but could do nothing but watch as the manipulating mage stalked towards Emerald who was currently frozen staring at him in shock.

He could do nothing as the vile man suddenly became pitch black, looking like a shadow, and entered Emeralds' body. Instantly, her complexion went from tan to blue as if she had been denied oxygen for too long, she blinked hard and when she opened her eyes. It wasn't her eyes anymore, they were no longer the emerald green she was named after but a dark, lackluster black.

She threw her head back and laughed in a very unEmerald-like manner as the girl almost never showed any emotion outside Lucy's presence. "Finally!" Zoldeo's voice said through her "Ahhaha! Feel that power!" He said flexing his hand.

"You bastard!" Bero yelled in outrage "Release her!"

The dark mage simply turned and smiled "You're still here you old sot?" He laughed "I take back what I said. I'll be wanting Capricorn's key back" he said greedily, thinking of the power he could have.

"This is perfect!" Zoldeo exclaimed "I can test my new powers on you and then afterwards maybe I'll pay a little visit to the Heartfilia Konzern. After all, Lucy still has all those keys" he said maliciously.

Bero gripped his staff so tightly his knuckled turned white "You little brat" he snarled "How dare you!? For this I will tear you down in Lady Layla's name! One of us will die before I let you touch a hair on Lucy's head" He yelled but on the inside he was worried. He was not as young as he used to be and even if he was, he was certain that he couldn't take down Zoldeo, who possessed Emerald prowess in the art of combat.

"I'm going to enjoy cutting you down" He cackled before reaching for Emerald's sword

Bero knew it could very well have been the last fight of his life, he could only hope that he had atoned for his sins in his early years so that's he would go where he knew his student would be waiting for him to tell all about Lucy's progress and who she had with her. Bero shook his head, he couldn't lose. He grit his teeth and prepared for an attack.

But it didn't come.

He looked on shock when Zoldeo just barely grazed the handle of Emerlad's Zanpakutō when he suddenly froze in shock and fear.

_**"How dare you touch me?!" **_

He suddenly yelled. "Who's there?!" He said whirling around "Show yourself!" He commanded.

**_"I do not answer to you! You, insignificant little whelp!" _**The voice in his head screamed and his vision went dark

He kept looking around and panicked, then he started running. He broke through a barrier of something that rusted loudly, he jumped into bushes. He reached out to his left and felt the bark of a tree. Was he in a forest? He looked up to see the sky was black as pitch with not a star in sight but the moon shone through the clouds, lighting up the sky with its silvery glow.

Everything about the place screamed danger to him. He went stiff when he heard growling somewhere close to his side. He could feel it.

_There was someone else here..._

He ran again, looking for a light, anything leading to his escape but the darkness was all encompassing. He could hear something thudding against the forest floor as the growling grew nearer. He was unwittingly clipped by a branch in the shoulder and fell of balance. He managed to sit up and push his back againts a tree, He turned his head left and right rapidly. "This body is mine! Leave!" He yelled futilely, knowing what was there was another entity within Emerald's body.

He relaxed visibly when the growling stopped.

Suddenly light appeared. Two small, luminescent, yellow lights. He started to walk towards them but suddenly found that they were getting closer and growing larger, _much_ larger.

A guttural snarl suddenly echoed in the darkness** "You think you're the master here?" **A voice said in a vaguely female tone before letting out a bark of laughter** "You are disgusting. I will enjoy ripping your vile soul apart"**

His screams could have been heard for miles around if that nightmare had actually been real...

* * *

Bero watched as the body screamed and clutched its head . **"Get out!" **It yelled in a voice that was neither Emerald's nor Zoldeo's.

Then the expression changed from angry to fearful "No! Get away from me" it begged in Zoleo's voice "Stay away!"

Then the body turned Emerald's natural color again. _**"If you won't leave, I'll make you!" **_An animalistic female voice snarled through the body, exposing unnaturally sharp teeth and glowing yellow eyes.

The old master could not understand what was happening. The body seemed to be arguing with itself. When it spoke in one voice it changed appearance to show it was still inhabited by Zoldeo but when it spoke again, in what he knew to be the voice of the spirit that resided within her, her appearance went back to normal aside from the glowing yellow eyes.

The body suddenly doubled over. "AAAAAH STOP IT! STOP IT! STOP IT!" Zoldeo's voice yelled. The body went rigid and stock straight, its head tipped back, it's mouth opened and the same black, misty, magic energy that had surrounded Emerald poured out. The moment it was all gone Emrld gasped and took in welcome lungfulls of air. She leaned against the brick wall to her left for support as her eyes turned from amber back to green and her color returned.

_**"Are you okay, pup?" **_Ryūketsu asked her as she tried to stady herself

"Thank you" she spluttered out loud, allowing even Bero to here, he didn't question her about it as he was too busy watching the dark mist solidify and turn into Zoldeo once again.

"No! No!" He yelled pounding the ground with his fist "It's not fair!"

"Are you alright, dear?" Bero asked Emerald as she regained her bearings.

She nodded "I've been better" she said shaking the black dots from her vision. "What the hell was that? The mist? And why couldn't I do anything?"

Bero's face turned grim "You were nearly possesed by him. Luckily that spirit of yours locked him out" He said while Zoldeo was still rolling around in the dirt throwing a tantrum like a child.

"Possesed?" She asked and he nodded "That son of a bitch." She tried walking over to him to beat him for trying to over her body but herself still too weak to stand upright.

"No." Bero commanded "You stay put. I'll handle this" He walked towards the fallen dark mage, his spear shifting back into a stalking stick.

"You are in a world of trouble boy!" Bero said getting his attention and making him freeze.

"I-I-I didn't mean any of it" he stuttered standing up slowly, still facing away from Bero

"Save it!" Bero said moving closer "You'll be lucky if sir Jude will let you go to prison after what you've done." He spat "What do you have to say for yourself, you snake?"

Zoldeo turned his head slightly "I say" his face suddenly morphed into a menacing grin "You're a fool" he said before suddenly reaching for him.

Faster than either of them thought he could move, he had snatched Grandpa Bero and held him off the ground. He had grabbed a knife from somewhere and held it against the old man's throat.

"Bero!" Emerald yelled taking a step closer

"Stop!" Zoldeo yelled, digging the knife a little harder into his neck, not hard enough to break the skin but that was the least of her worries. From her position she could see that the knife was coated in a sickly green substance. Poison.

"You_ bastard"_ she said in a low growl. He just laughed at her.

"You're going to let me go!" He commands, knowing she wouldn't defy him as long as he had Bero's life in his hand. "You're going to let me go and- what's that sound?" Zoldeo said his eyes darting around looking for the source of the the war cry that sounded far away.

"YAAAAAAAH!" Someone yelled as a figure clad in white ran past Emerald and made a B-line for Zoldeo "LUCY KICK!" The little girl shouted, digging her foot into Zoleo's face making him fly backwards and accidentally drop the knife he had to Bero's throat.

Emerald couldn't help the laugh that left her mouth "And that" she said "is why we work on speed during training" She said, moving towards them.

"Are you okay Grandpa?" Lucy asked still standing in an imperfect fighting stance that Emerald had previously shown her.

Despite just having a poison tipped knife to his neck he smiled "Yes, dear." he assured "Thank you, but if I may ask." He said and she nodded

"How are you here?"

Lucy blushed in embarrassment "I-uh...I sort heard your conversation" She awkwardly put her index fingers together "I didn't mean to! I just- umm. I kind of thought you and Grandpa were acting all strange"

"You eavesdropped on us?!" Emerald asked, surprised that polite, well-mannered, little Lucy would do such a thing but also proud because she knew right away something was wrong in the way she had acted. "But how did you get here?"

Lucy flushed again "I kind of borrowed father's magic four-wheeler and asked a few guards to take me" she said sheepishly "I heard you say Valencia so I thought you'd be here and you were. I just had to feel around for Bero's magic to find you in this alley. I-I'm sorry!" She said as if she hadn't just done something amazing for a ten year-old.

"It's ok." She told her student "In fact it's good that you showed up when you did or else Zoldeo would have skewered Bero-jiji"

Speaking of the dark mage reminded them of his presence, he was practically fuming. "You! You stupid little bitch! I'll kill you!" He said putting to fingers up.

"HERO OF RU- ACK!" He suddenly cried out in pain. He looked down at his hand to see a hole in the middle of his palm. He yelled in alarm when it started to grow and it seemed to eat away at his very being. His flesh, blood, bones and everything else evaporated right before his very eyes. He screamed.

"Lucy look away!" She said covering the girl's eyes.

He continued to writhe in pain and scream, denying what was happening "NO! NO! NO!" He yelled as the rest of his body disappeared into thin air.

For a moment Emerald was speechless, unsure of what to say as she lifted her hand from Lucy's eyes. It was almost eerie, how moments ago there stood a man who had threatened them and tried to control her and then the next moment he was just gone. The only proof that he was here was the poison knife that stood a few feet away for he stood.

It was Bero who finally broke the silence "So that's the punishment for breaking a law of magic" he said, having been haunted by what he had just seen as well. The old man looked at her apologetically "My dear, I am sorry I did not see it sooner but I wasn't sure and I had thought that the magic had long since died out"

"What magic?" She asked "What exactly was all that mind control bullshit"

"Not mind control." He corrected "He used a magic called Human Subordination, also known as Ruler's magic" Bero explained. "He can take control of other people and bend their will so they do whatever he desires. However he can only turn humans into subordinates, from what I have read about this if he were to try and cast influence over a non-human he would not be able to summon that being but rather, he would merge with it and posses its body, but this is forbidden."

She processed all of that before her mind hung on one detail "He controlled them?! He used their lives and they couldn't do a damn thing?!"

Bero nodded "And they cannot defy him. That is where the magic differs from Celestial Spirit magic. Spirits can choose to disobey if the order is unspeakable but in this case these people are forced to do anything and everything he wants them to and they cannot resist, their bodies will move without their consent."

Lucy raised her hand shyly "Umm, Grandpa what did you mean by merging?"

Bero face hardened into a scowl "He would use the same spell he does when he wants to cast influence on another human but should he use it on someone that not necessarily human, like Emerald here, he would merge them, enter their bodies and gain control of their movements, their skills in battle and their abilities. But this is forbidden by ancient laws and you saw th consequences of breaking that law"

"Your very existence is wiped from the earth" she said, and the look on Bero's face told her she had hit the nail on the head. "Even if he wasn't near, I would be able to sense his presence, his life but it isn't there anymore, not even a single trace of it..." She said.

She almost felt sorry for the bastard. Almost

On their way back to the mansion, Lucy asked them exactly what had happened and, of course, neither she nor Bero kept anything from her. The girl had a right to know considering Capricorn's key was her inheritance from Layla.

She didn't seem fazed by anything that was said but she did not speak, just nodded and listened.

No one spoke after that. There was just nothing to say.

When it all went silent Emerald leaned her head against the window _ "Ryū"_ she said internally, hoping to call the attention of her Zanpakutō spirit _"Thank you for saving me"_

Of course her motherly spirit responded immediately _**"Of course pup. An alpha takes care of her pack" **_she said, smiling at her weilder.

She smiled back but it immediately faded and was replaced by a thoughtful look. Ryūketsu knew her well enough to know if something was bothering her or not and despite the blank facade she put on the Zanpakutō spirit saw right through it _**"Penny for your thoughts Em?" **_

She didn't bother covering up or hiding from her, knowing tha Ryū was smarter than that _"The way Zoldeo went...I went the same way"_ she said

_**"How so?"**_

She sighed and ran a hand through her hair, an action that was just interpreted as a habit by her fellow passengers in the vehicle. _"The way he disappeared, without a trace, without anything saying where he went or if there was a way to bring him back" _she absentmindedly stared out the window and at the forest that they passed _"It made start to think that maybe...there is no way to get back"_

Ryūketsu did not answer

_"I mean, think about it." She prompted "Irina said that there are countless dimensions and worlds. I landed in one among, possibly, millions with no way for them to track me down and no way for me to possibly open another rift"_

_**"...What are you trying to say?" **_Ryūketsu said after a while

_"I'm just saying that maybe, we should accept our situation."_ She answered_ "As much as it hurts for me to have to never see Link or Irina again, I just can't keep hoping and holding on to something that I've, maybe, already lost"_ she said sadly

She waited, expecting for her Zanpakutō to get angry and tell her to not give up, to tell her to not lose hope and to find a way.

She did none of theses things. She merely sighed _"Okay"_

Emerald smiled, both inside and out.

* * *

**Done!**

**Yeah, no song reference this time**

**Dude! I am sorry I haven't updated in a while. A lot has been going on, family reunions, celebrations, graduations and through the whole thing I have just been bored to tears and ignored,.**


	6. Memories That Fade Like Photographs (unr

**READ THIS GODDAMIT!**

**I have a couple of things to say:**

**1)Thank you for the support, thank you to everyone who reviewed, followed and/or favorited this, seriously you have no idea what these little thing do to boost my confidence.**

**2)I will be progressively aging Lucy as the chapters go on. I'm not going to just skip seven years because, like in the previous chapter, there are some things that I plan on happening during the time Lucy grows up. But don't worrying! I'll try to keep it interesting.**

**3)Waternixie, to answer your question. If you meant to ask how long in the manga I'll take this I would say as long as I see the story going somewhere, if it looks like it can't progress I will stop. Or if you meant to ask how long as in how long is Lucy going to stay a kid, well refer to the second thing.**

**4)Drexel...Salamat at nag review ka. Hindi ako sanay na may makausap na Pilipino rin.**

**5)enjoy this (filler[sort of]) chapter**

* * *

**Chapter 6: Memories That Fade Like Photographs**

* * *

**Year: X778 (August)**

**Location: Heartfilia Konzern**

**Lucy**

"Are you ready?" Emerald asked her as they sat on what used to be just a grassy plain that converted into Lucy's training area. Usually she preferred to train outside but her father had insisted and made the land her own little training camp, little being a falsely used term.

The plot was half as large as the land the mansion took up. Jude had spared no expense, despite her protests, and had all the equipment brought in 8 months ago, immediately after the Zoldeo incident. He was furious of course but also proud when he heard of how she had saved Grandpa Bero's life.

They sat in a part of the training area that was just a grass field, with cool clean air blowing through and trees dotting the landscape in an unorderly pattern which was understandable considering the training area was well a ways away behind the actual mansion, it was practically on the border of the property so there were no sounds of the servants bustling around or anything else, only silence that was disturbed by birds' song and rustling leaves from the trees that surrounded them.

"Remember Lucy, clear your mind and focus on nothing else but the sound of my voice" Emerald instructed, her eyes already closed and her body in a meditation position.

Lucy nodded "The sound of your voice" she repeated "Got it" the recently turned eleven year-old said more for herself than for her teacher. She closed her eyes and tried to empty her mind but it wasn't as easy as it seemed as shekept thinking about how the exercise was unorthodox to say the least.

I mean, it's not everyday you practice telepathy.

When they had gotten back from the Zoldeo ordeal months ago Emerald had realized that there was no way that Lucy couldnt have listened in on her conversation with Bero without her sensing her nearby, in fact she had felt that Lucy was already on the second floor by the time they had gone out the front door.

When she asked Lucy about it even she couldn't explain it. She just said that she noticed the sudden change in her teachers' demeanor and got curious. She just wanted to know what they were saying and then she could suddenly hear Emerald talking to Bero. She began to get worried when she felt Emerald's thoughts turn dark. So when they were far enough to not notice her following them she had two guards escort her to Valencia. She didn't know how she had done it but she did observe that she felt her magic drain from her the longer she listened to her older counterpart's thoughts.

The thought that it might be an actual ability struck Emerald only days before when she had been talking to Bero about having Lucy finally establish a contract with Capricorn as she already had with Cancer and Aquarius. They had summoned the goat spirit and asked him if he thought Lucy was ready and he had give his full support on the matter. He said he had yet to thank her in assisting with the retrieval of his key from Zoldeo.

The mention of him brought

"You're still thinking of other things" Emerald suddenly said seeing her students eyebrows furrow in concentration.

Her eyes opened and she sighed "Sorry" she said, her lips jutting out in a pout "It's hard to not thinks ther stuff, you know!" she said defensively. She was never going to get this right!

"I know" She said, surprising Lucy "Which is why I don't do that. I just thought that maybe you were normal and it would work for you like it does for everyone else"

"What do you mean by that?" She said her hands on her hips and her eyes narrowing at the implication that she wasn't normal.

Emerald did not look intimidated in the least "I mean that your mind is like mine. There's too many things going on in there at once for you to actually focus on one thing. Which is why you shouldn't"

"What should I do then?" She said tiredly, having been training for the last three hours (half on combat, half on the mental link) since they woke up and ran to the training field at first light .

Emerald closed her eyes and crossed her legs under her "Do what I do when I'm trying to do a mental exercise. Think of as many different things as you can at the same time, keeping in mind your objective as well. Just make your mind as active as you possibly can, even if you're thinking useless thoughts"

"Okay" she said getting back in meditation position "How do I do it?"

Her bit her lip as she thought of a suitable explanation "Think of it like how you organize your own personal library" she explained "You choose to put certain books together on a shelf because those are your favorites. It's not the way anyone else would group them together but it's your way, and only you know where a particular book is in that group and you can instantly pick it out."

Lucy nodded in understanding "So I just concentrate on particular thoughts, one of them being my actual objective and organize them by priority. That way I'll have the group thoughts I need to think about but still be mainly thinking about what I need to do without getting distracted too much, because those thoughts are still there."

Emerald had to smile at how quickly she picked it up "Exactly" she commended "Let's try it" she said and their eyes closed and the field was silent once again.

_'Okay'_ she thought _'Lucy just think of what we might have for breakfast, think about dad, think about Bero, think about your training'_ she coaxed herself _'Think about your magic, think about it reaching out to Emerald-neesan. Think about her voice' _She suddenly felt herself get weaker, felt the magic drain drain from her body steadily in small amounts but it was a small price to pay for the result she recieved.

_"Can you hear me? Can you hear me? Can you hear me?"_ Emerlad's voice in her mind said over and over again, waiting for a response.

Lucy was so overjoyed that almost lost her voice in the sea of thoughts _"Yes!" _She said excitedly in her mind _"I can hear you neesan"_

_"Good! That's good" _Emerald told her and she felt a sense of pride filling her chest_ "Now let's see how long you can hold it" _She said but her voice sounded strained as if she was the one struggling.

After a few minutes of them talking about nothing in particular Emeralds decided it was time to move to the next phase.

_"Okay Lucy now let's try something else"_ She said waiting for her nod of assent_ "I'm going to try giving you images tell me what you see" _she instructed

She could do that. She breathed in and prepared herself _"Ready"_ she said and instantly her blacked out vision suddenly became a burst of colors that took the shape. She suddenly wasn't in that field, she was standing on white, grainy sand with the waves rolling in and soaking her feet up to her ankles. She looked around her and directly behind her was a mansion as huge as the Heartfilia manor. Everything made it seem as though she was really there. The cool, breeze that blew through her hair, the chill that she felt on her fee when the water recedes. It was surreal.

_"Lucy" _Emerald said snapping her out of her stupor and reminding her of the task at hand. _"What do you see?"_

_"It's a beach. White sand, clear water and a white mansion behind me"_ she described carefully _"It's beautiful."_ She breathed in the salty air that she knew wasn't actually there.

The image melted away and she was once again staring at the back of her eyelids.

_"Next image"_ Emerald said abruptly before Lucy could say anything more.

From the way she had reacted Lucy deduced that these were images of places close to her heart. That beach, a balcony in the same mansion, a tall building made of steel and glass that towered above all the others of its kind. A room, small, cozy and filled with books and instruments.

She described these images carefully but each time she finished Emrald quickly replaced the images before Lucy could question her. Pretty soon she felt herself at half of her magical energy.

_**"I'm impressed pup."**_ A new voice suddenly said nearly shocking Lucy out of her thoughts **_"She got it much faster than you did when you first tried this"_**

Lucy couldn't help the smile that crept into her lips _"Of course I got it! Don't you know? I'm a prodigy!"_ she said proudly over Emerald's surprised but delighted laugh and Ryūkets's gasp _"__Uhh...who are you by_

Emerald couldn't help but smile _"You, little girl, are a wonder all on your own!"_ She said making Lucy's chest swell with pride "_Lucy, I would like to introduce you to the spirit that resides within me-"_

**_"And the one always keeping you out of trouble" _**She interjected happily

_"Ryūketsu no Kemono"_ she said laughing at her Zanpakuto's antics.

_**"Pleasure to meet you Lucy"**_ Ryūketsu said politely, making Emerald grumble and mutter something along the lines of "_Oh sure be nice to her_"

_"You as well Ryūketsu." _She subconsciously bowed her head _"Thank you for taking care of neesan, she tends to be very reckless" _She said knowing that it would bother said Shinigami

_"You're calling me reckless?" _She scoffed _"Little miss tree climber. Are you forgetting that I not only warned you but also healed you?" _She said reminded her of the time she felt a little too adventurous and tried to climb up a dead tree with a smug smile.

Lucy flushed _"That was an accident!"_ She said defensively. She heard Emerald hum condescendingly before she grunted. Lucy felt the connection waver for just a moment and then she started to increase the amount of magic she put out and the connection strengthened.

Ryūketsu laughed at their little back and forth **_"Don't worry Little Star, pup has her share of stupid stunts as well."_ **She said taunting her owner.

_"Don't you dare" _Emerald warned in a slightly dazed voice

**"Did she ever tell you about that time she tried to backflip off a third floor balcony into a pool?" **She smirked mischievously, ignoring Emerald's indignant cries.

_"No" _Lucy giggled _"What happened?" _

**_"She flipped two times but ended up face down and SMACK!"_** She slapped her two hands together in a fairly accurate imitation that made Emerald cringe. **_"She belly flopped into the pool. Her stomach and thighs were red for a week!" _**she laughed.

Emerald groaned but it came out as more of a complaint than a pained one as it was mean to.

_"Haha! That's hilarious"_ Lucy laughed along with her. It stopped immediately though, when she felt a strange feeling course through her that was not her own. _"Neesan. Are you okay?" _

I'm Emerald grunted in response _"Fine."_ She said dismissively _"Just a headache I -ah!"_ She suddenly cried out and Lucy felt herself get pushed out of her mind with the force causing her to fall back into the grass.

Her eyes snapped open the moment she was flat on the ground. She immediately stood up "Neesan?!" Lucy ran towards her, her voice filled with concern "Are you okay?"

The person in question was laid down in the grass on her side, curled up in a fetal position with her head cradled in her hands. "Ugh" she groaned and grit her teeth.

"Neesan!" Lucy called in fear.

"Shut up!" Emerald yelled and she fell silent at the outburst "Oh, my head" she whimpered before sitting up straight or at least as straight as she could.

"Emerald-nee? Are you alright?" Lucy said quietly in fear of being yelled at again. "I'm sorry I- I- didn't mean to be so loud-"

With effort, the older of the two put a hand on her shoulder "No. I'm sorry I raised my voice at you" she said regretting what she had done.

Lucy gave her a gentle smile "It's okay neesan. I know you didn't mean it" she said before moving closer to wrap her little arms around her head

When they parted Emerald's face morphed into a dry smile "At least now we know what the extent of this ability is and the repercussions"

"Repre-reper-repercussions " Lucy struggled to say "What does that mean?"

"The drawbacks, the consequences" she explained briefly and Lucy nodded in understanding "For me it's a headache worse than the day after St. Patrick's and for you, it looks like it requires a fair amount of magic" she said and only then did Lucy realize how exhausted she had felt.

An ability that Emerald discovered she had was to see the amount of magical energy left in a mage's body and looking at Lucy's, well, there wasn't much left. She had felt Lucy increase her magic output but didn't question it as a throbbing had started in the back of her head and just got worse from there.

Spetto's voice suddenly called out to them and they both turned to look at her standing on the edge of the cobblestone path that lead to the training field. "Girls it's time for brunch. You're father's waiting for you inside Lucy" she informed them and Lucy groaned and fell back to the ground.

"But I'm so tired" She complained. "Neesan, carry me" she said in a whiny voice.

Emerald smiled down at her "And why would I do that?" She said tauntingly "You have legs, use 'em"

Lucy groaned again and then pouted at her, her eyes going wide and watery "Pweeeeeease?" She said childishly.

Her older sister rolled her eyes and suddenly scooped her up off the ground and threw half of her over her shoulder and lugged her towards the mansion like a potato sack.

"Hey!" She complained.

She only received a laugh in response "You said "carry you"" she batted her eyelashes innocently.

* * *

**Emerald**

The did not have brunch when they came in because the moment they came in Jude started chuckling, not laughing, _chuckling_ at them. The bastard

Well she had to admit they did look father comical. Dirt and grass stains caked all over their clothes and skin. The hand-to-hand they practiced that day touched on what Lucy should do if ever she is pinned down by an opponent. Emerald was pretty damned impressed when the little girl had managed to break her hold but it took too much time, in a real battle the enemy could have already slit her throat or stabbed her.

_**"Happy thoughts you got there pup" **_Ryūketsu commented dryly as she was currently under the spray of a warm shower.

_"You don't exactly think about happy when someone has a knife to your throat or lower back."_ She replied sarcastically, but there was a bite to her words that the spirit didn't miss.

_**"Well, someone's acting rude" **_she said condescendingly_** "Is it that time of the month already?"**_ She said teasingly but with a hint of poison in her tone, a warning.

Emerald knew better than to cross Ryūketsu so she sighed and reigned in her temper _"You know what I showed Lucy during the exercise right?"_

_**"You showed her the 14th. You showed her home." **_

She nodded, a pain in her chest going off at the worse home. _"I accept that I might never get back but..."_

_**"You still miss it. You miss them"**_ Ryūketsu finished for her, her voice sympathetic.

She didn't answer after that and Ryūketsu didn't push the issue.

She stepped out of the shower feeling refreshed but was surprised to see that layed out for her on Lucy's and her bed wasn't her _**shihakushō**_, but black pencil skirt and a white, high collared, button-up blouse. She raised an eyebrow at the choice of clothing but, having no choice, she put them on along with a pair of undergarments already layed out for her. This had Spetto and Jude written all over it.

They had asked her weeks ago why she always wore this same black kimono that never really stayed dirty. She explained to them how it was the garment of the dead and how it wasn't really and earthly object so it didn't really get dirty or needed cleaning so she wore it all the time to which the two of them looked appealed at the idea of wearing the same clothes over and over again. Jude and Spetto asked her if she could change clothes and when she answered yes, if she took on her human form, they got a glint in their eyes that made her fear for her dignity.

She pondered on wether she could summon her shihakushō to her by force of will but she decided it was too much trouble before heading for the door.

She found Spetto outside the door to her bedroom holding a pair of black flats. "Oh, don't you look nice" she said knowingly.

"I look like a secretary" she said simply to which Spetto frowned

"A beautiful secretary" she corrected "Your lucky we settled on that instead of a dress" she said, smiling smugly when Emerald shuddered at the thought of wearing one of those poofy monstrosities.

Spetto shook her head in slight disbelief "You are the only teenage girl I know, who doesn't want to be dressed and pampered like a princess." She clucked.

"Yeah well, most teenage girls aren't half-dead and demon slayers" she answered dryly before heading down the hall to the stairs.

She arrived at the dining room to see Lucy and Jude already seated at the table with the latter holding a newspaper in hand. They hadn't noticed her yet so she leaned on the doorway and watched them have a conversation about her training.

"Then she showed me this balcony with a really pretty garden under it" Lucy said, using her hands in big gestures and jerky movement only children could could pull off.

"That's nice" Jude nodded, smiling at his daughter warmly "So your training is going well"

Lucy nodded enthusiastically "Yup!" Her face lit up when she spoke about what she learned. "Grandpa Bero and neesan always have something new for me. They say it's because I'm such a quick learner and they think they might run out of things to teach me" she said giggling at the memory.

Jude laughed lightly with her before he turned his head ever so slightly, to see Emerald out of the corner of his eye.

"Ah, you're here." He said laying down his newspaper "Come, join us." He gestured for her to sit in the chair just left of Lucy and when she did a plate of chicken lathered in a creamy orange sauce was set in front of her. A smaller plate of waffles was placed at her left and a bowl of clear broth to her right by Spetto who took a seat right across from her.

Jude called everyone in the mansion to the table and they started eating together.

This was another change that Emerald had witnessed. Having everyone dine together. It made for a tighter bond between everyone in the mansion and it certainly broke the barrier that used to lie between Jude and the staff.

Jude and Lucy commended Aed work with the broth that Emerald had to agree tasted amazing and the cook's cheeks darkened a shade to match his reddish nose. Banter and small talk were made around the table and she couldn't help but look at it all and be reminded, once again of home.

Those times when everyone who wasn't on shift would eat dinner together out in the field behinds the Ivanick mansion, watching stars and singing songs around a bonfire. She remembered one time when they had a marshmallow war and started throwing roasted, meaty marshmallows at each other which ended in a sticky mess.

She couldn't help but compare those times to this. It wasn't like the servant-master relations she had come into this to see. Now it looked like a real, odd but loving family. She briefly pondered what Layla would think if she saw all this, surely, Lady Heartfilia would be happy.

She broke from her thoughts to listen in to a conversation about Valencia.

"Well, did you hear?" Ribbon said "There seems to be a criminal on the loose. A man by the name Luxor. He's notoriously for killing their victims after stealing everything they have even the clothes off their backs." He said in a grim voice.

Jude nodded "Yes, I read in the paper that he's been spotted in Bellamy" a collective gasp erupted from all of the staff members,

"That's just a few hours away from Valencia" Spetto said worriedly

"Oh my" Ora said in a disbelieving voice "To think there's people in this wolrd capable of such things..." She shook her head and shivered at the thought.

A tense silence settled over all of theme that was broken when Lucy suddenly surprised them all by standing up on her chair and placing one foot on the table.

"Don't worry Ora!" She said with a manic glint in her eye "I won't let anyone here get hurt! I'll get strong and protect all of you" she proclaimed and while Spetto was appalled by her lack of table manners Jude just smiled proudly at her.

"I'm sure you will Lucy" He said in a manner that wasn't at all offhanded, he said it as if he truly knew she would be capable "I believe in you, we all do" he said.

Lucy's eyes shine as she looked at her father gratefully "Thank you Daddy"

The rest of the brunch was spent in a comfortable silence that didn't last long considering that everyone was already finishing their food. The staff started cleaning up so Jude, Lucy and Emerald stood and walked out into the hall.

"So, Lucy" Emerald said patting her stomach in satisfaction "You ready to start training again?"

In response the Heartfilia heiress shook her head. "Actually neesan, me and Daddy were going into town to go shopping for some new clothes and I was wondering if you could come with us" she said in that way that wasn't exactly asking but it also was that only kids could pull of.

"Shopping?" Emerald said in a strained voice as if she was terrified by just the mention of activity. "I don't know Lucy." she said tugging nervously on the collar of her blouse.

"Come now Emerald " Jude said the corners of his mouth twitching as though he was fighting a smile "Lucy really wants you to come" he said knowing that she would give in. Her eyes narrowed at him and he returned it with an innocent smile.

She looked back down to Lucy "Pleeease" Added to the cute, little girl voice she used to ask her was a wide eyed, pleading stare.

"Damn it" she muttered cursing herself for being so weak-willed "Kami, fine! I'll go" she said in defeat and instantly Lucy's face went from sad puppy dog to Cheshire Cat grin

"Yey! I'll go get my jacket!" She says before skipping away to her room.

The moment she was out of earshot Emerald gave Jude an acid glare "You son of a bitch"

Having been called worse before by clients and business partners he'd double crossed he just smiled "I didn't do anything" He said innocently

She shook her head in disbelief "All that, just to get me to buy new clothes." At the same time she covered part of her face with her palm "You and Spetto are evil"

"We simply want the best for our little Lucy's big sister" He said wagging a finger in her face condescendingly

"How are clothes "the best"?" She asked curling her fingers in air quotes when she said the last two words.

"We can't have you looking like the Grim Realer all the time" he said not really answering her "Besides we have the money, we might as well use it to get you more clothes" as if it was as simple as that just as Lucy bounded down the stairs and jumped into her father's arms who lifted her up and spun her while she giggled like mad.

He put her down but took her hand before they walked out the door expecting her to go along with them.

Emerald was left staring and sweatdropping "Damn rich people" she grumbled having no choice but to follow.

* * *

"Holy hell in a hand basket" she muttered looking down the street that was just store after store after store all the way to a dead end.

Now she had been to the market, that for some reason was separate, in Valencia before and the place was filled with just your regular, everyday townies that were dressed simply and looked normal but this place that the town had so aptly named "High Class Street" was filled with people parading around in fur coats, dresses, suits, high heels, hats and every other stuffy piece of clothing Emerald could see.

"Nope. Nun Uh, nope, nope." She shook her head and turned around "Not doing this buh-bye!" She said turning to run back to the mansion.

Lucy immediately made grab for her hand "Come on neesan!" She pleaded and in return she groaned. "Pleeease! For me?" She said pouting adorably and batting her eyelashes.

"God dammit, you Heartfilias are evil" she grumbled before nodding and allowing Lucy and Jude to drag her off into a store.

**_"Your famous will of steel broken by the puppy-dog face"_** Ryūketsu chuckled "If the others could see you know"

"Oh shut it" she grumbled as she was dragged into a dress shop.

They had given her a bag of Jewel and let her have control of what she would buy for herself but when she told them she wasn't sure if she would buy anything, they instead brought her to their favorite stores but store they went to Jude and Lucy found something they wanted but she was left to shake her head and deny every pair of heels, every piece of jewelry, and every dress they offered her. She just gave them excuse after excuse.

"This?" Jude asked pointing to a brown fur coat

"That thing isn't worth the animal that it was killed for " she replied, shrewdly

"Hmm" an employee looked around before picking up a pair of black heels "Maybe the lady will like these?"

She scowled at the "I have trouble standing in heels, do you think I could walk in them?"

"Will you be comfortable in this?" Jude asked, holding up a pink sweater

"It's pink"

"Your point?"

"I'm allergic" she said making everyone in the room sweatdrop.

"Oookay. How about this?" Lucy said holding up a green skirt for her.

"Too bright" she said not even looking at the clothing

Lucy frowned and pick up something else from the pile they set in front of her "Grr! what about this one?" She offered a purple, evening gown with gold trim.

"I thought we were supposing for clothes not drapes" Emerald answered.

The little girl puffed her cheeks out and pouted "Well what do you want?!" She demanded stomping her foot.

Jude stood at the side watching them with a strange drop shape on his head "This is going nowhere, very fast" He muttered to himself, shaking his head and covering his forehead and eyes with his hand.

Emerald scratched the back of her head "Look it's obvious that I don't want anything in here, so why don't we just go?" She said, trying to keep her voice from sounding like she was pleading.

"This is the seventh store we've been to!" Lucy said, her eye twitching slightly in annoyance "When the fuck are you going to choose something?!" She suddenly cursed causing every eye to turn on her. The staff of the shop gasped and muttered about what a foul mouthed little girl she was.

"Oh boy" Emerald muttered under her breath, predicting what was going to happen next. This was not going to be pretty.

Jude looked at his daughter like he had never seen her before "My goodness! L-Lucy!" He spluttered "Where do you learn that word?!"

Confused by her father's reaction, her anger faded "I heard neesan say it a few times" Lucy blinked innocently, unaware of what exactly she had said.

Jude's eyes turned on her and she flinched "Busted" she said scratching the back of her head "Hey, in my defense I didn't tell her to use it nor did I mean to use I in front of her" she said holding up her hands in a surrender pose.

He gave her a look that said that he'd have a word with her later before crouching down in front of his daughter.

Emerald groaned in agony at the thought having to be told a lecture. She leaned back on the wall of the store and stared out the glass wall. Her eyes narrowed as she caught sight of a store cross the street that was a rundown and didn't look like it got much business. "Hey Jude" she called and he turned his head to look glare at her. Ignoring the look she pointed to across the street "I'm going to go check out another store" she ducked out before he could complain.

Out the street she sighed, relieved to have gotten away from that drama. She spotted some people casting her judgementsl glances and shaking their head at her, while their eyes took in her attire. One lady, even went so far as to stop in front of her and click her tongue disappointedly.

She ignored them all and headed into the store she spotted.

If she was being honest, she would admit that when she saw what was inside she gasped in shock.

She was right when she thought that there weren't many people inside and she was glad because now she was free to search the blessed aisles of the store. It was like being in New York again, the stores were filled with the kind of clothes she would find in her favorite stores, just casual, no fancy jeweled blouses, just regular shirts and tops, no flared skirts just normal jeans and shorts.

She fell to her knees with anime tears of happiness streaming down her face "Am I in heaven?" She said blissfully.

"No, you're in my doorway" a voice said from the side and she looked to see a teenaged girl behind the counter. She was dressed absolutely plain, which Emrald was just fine with, in black shorts and a white shirt with a smiley face on it, her brown hair just down past her shoulders. "And you're blocking it, so get out of the way and in or out of the store" she said irritably

She jumped in surprise when, in a flash, Emrald was suddenly in front of her holding her hands and smiling at her like she was her savior "Bless you! Bless you for not being another stuffy, rich snob!" She cried latching on to her leg and hugging tightly even as the girl started to shake her off.

"Hey! Get off me psycho!" She screamed, hopping around on one leg while wildly shaking the other one in the air. She frantically reached for something behind the counter and Emerald only caught a glimpse of it before the girl brought it down onto her head. Having been trained to be used to even worse pain, she wasn't hurt but the force was enough to get her to let go of the girl's leg.

The brunette jumped over the counter and put her back against the wall "Stay back freak!" She yelled

"I'm sorry" Emerald said, holding up a hand while the girl held her baseball bat in front of her threateningly "It's just that after an hour of all that fancy bullshit and hearing people talk about "the best money can buy"" she said, mocking Jude's tone, making the girl laugh. "It's nice to see someone who looks normal" She said

The girl nodded appreciatively, lowering her bat "I know what you mean" she scowled "These rich, judgemental asshats think their better than everyone else just because they have more money to throw around and waste." she said dropping her weapon altogether and holding out a hand.

"I'm Claire." She said, finally showing her a smile that was surprisingly crooked, but it suited her well. "Oh and, ah, sorry for the whole freak thing and hitting you over the head with a baseball bat." She said sheepishly, scratching the back of her head, an action that was not missed by Emerald as Ryūketsu had told her hundreds of times that she did it a lot

"Emerald" she answered, shaking the other girl's hand firmly. "And don't worry. That swing barely hurt" she said cockily.

Claire smirked at the challenge "Oh is that so?"

She smirked back "Yeah, maybe if you actually tried next time you might make me flinch"

Claire's face broke out into a full-blown grin "I like you" she nodded approvingly. "Anyway, to business. I know you didn't come into my store just to latch on to my leg like dog in heat, so what're you looking to buy?" She said, in a tone that Emerad often heard Jude use when he talked to clients in his office while she eavesdro- I mean listened in! She would never do something so rude...

She licked her lip ring and frowned down at her clothes "Something less "librarian" and a little more...rebellious. Oh and black." She said and Claire nodded before disappearing among the isles of clothing, searching for possible purchases.

She waited by the door, seated on a stool that was right in front of the windows just behind the row of mannequins that were displayed.

Above the door of the shop was a clock that showed I around four and it was getting rather warm. Despite this people still walked the streets, with their fancy clothes and expensive jewelry that made her scowl. She didn't know what it was but seeing people like this who didn't seem to care about anything other than material possessions made her feel angry, maybe it was just the fact that she had grown up with nothing and they had everything but didnt have to work for it and didn't value it enough.

She shook her head in disdain at one child who got a spot of dirt on her shoes and threw a tantrum and then wrinkled her nose in disgust at some girl who wore so much make up and perfume that she could smell it from inside the store when she passed by.

But then a spot bright caugh her eyes and they landed on a little girl holding on to a satchel that slung over her shoulder like her life depended on it.

She looked completely out of place among the poshly dressed crowd in her simple, white, long-sleeved dress with an armored chest plate and pauldrons over it. A red bow hung limply in front of the armor and a brown leather belt secured a sheathed sword to her waist. Black leggings wrapped around her legs and went into a pair of brown, fur-lined boots. She looked, cautiously around her through bright red bangs that partially covered her forehead, with two locks framing her face and the rest of it braided behind her.

At first she looked nervous and clutched onto her satchel but then she took a look around her and eyed the crowd with disdain just as Emerald did but when her dark eyes looked at the window of Claire's store they stayed on a pair of emerald green ones.

They stared at each other for much more than a moment and they seemed to connect. They were so similar, both carried a spark, a light that was not to be challenged or questioned but underneath that fiery facade was weakness, trauma. What they had witnessed left them both haunted. They had seen things no one should have had to and would never forget. Emerald two felt a strange fellowship being established between them, a sense of friendship that didn't make sense as they had never even properly met before but it just worked.

The young girl nodded to her solemnly and Emerald gave a sad smile back as if to say: "I understand and I'm sorry"

With that the red girl walked way, but without realizing that the green eyes she had connected with had turned blood red for just a fraction of a second, just long enough to read the words "Erza Scarlet" above her head and that for familiar chill to run down her spine.

* * *

**Guys! I am so sorry. The site wouldn't let me post this past 10,261 but it wouldn't work If I didn't stop at a certain point so I cut it in half.**

**Again I am sorry**


	7. Join The Club (unrevised)

**Guys I'm sorry about last time. To makes it up to you: The next chapter a week before I was supposed To write it. Thanks for being patient**

* * *

**Chapter 7: Join The Club**

* * *

**Year: X778 (August)**

**Location: Valencia Town**

**Erza**

The mission was simple enough.

Deliver a package (A very expensive one, as the client had told her many, _many_ times) from Hosenka to Valencia. Jean Haines (the client) had shown her what she was to deliver as a way to let her know of its value, an antique jewelry box, made from pure gold and encrusted with the finest gems and precious stones and what was inside was worth even more, or so she was told, the client refused to show her the contents as he was afraid that Erza might be overcome with greed and try to make off with it.

As if she would ever dishonor the name of Fairy Tail in such a way.

Haines had wanted only one mage and not an entire caravan as to not arouse suspicion. He had also asked for a capable mage, so he looked rather doubtful when she, a teenaged girl, came through the door. But she had proven herself well enough as she had gotten the box to Valencia safely, without much trouble. There a few bandits on the way but no one too dangerous and none of them seemed to know exactly what she was carrying.

As soon as Erza arrived in Valencia she was to deliver the box to a rich business man who lived near the town and give him a certain message but she wasn't given proper directions to his house. She went down several streets looking for the man who fit the profile that the client had given her but to no avail.

While walking through the market, she asked for directions and was given exactly what she needed but when she was headed there Erza suddenly got the sense that she was being followed. At first she thought she was being paranoid but then when she looked over her shoulder every few minutes she noticed a particular man that was a part of each scene she turned to look at.

With the intention of losing him she ran.

She looked for a crowded street, she need witnesses. But when she came to the street the town had arrogantly named High Class Street she wondered if she was better of just fighting thieves. She held on tight to the satchel the box was stuffed in but then she observed the type of people that were around and she debated on wether she'd rather fight than be around all these spoiled, rich people that seemed to look down on her for her simple attire.

They seemed so petty to her. So wrapped up in their own worlds full of luxury that it made her sick. And then there was that woman...

She looked maybe eighteen with pixie-cut, platinum blonde hair, that was messy but suited her well, skin that was not necessarily pale but not too tan either, emerald green eyes that seemed to stare straight into her soul. Her lips were thin and her nose was a perfect half teardrop shape. Then there were the things that made her look incredibly out of place. That silver lip ring, the five earrings she wore, two steel rings on the lobe of her right ear, one silver ball on the love of the left and one ring on the top curve of each ear. Erza thought she was beautiful but not in an obvious or show-off way. It was downplayed and it was clear she didn't care much about looks. But there was something in the way she looked, her mouth hard-set, chin tilted upwards as if she was ready to take on anything you throw at her and her body lean and graceful even in stillness but also a kind of tension in her that made it look as if she was ready to spring into action at a moment's notice.

In the window of a simple run-down looking store she stood, her green eyes regarding the people with a cold, hard glare as she had but when their eyes met Erza froze. Her eyes were like hers. She had the older members of Fairy Tail talk about this sort of thing. Finding a kindred spirit, someone who knew and went through everything you did, someone who understood...

Erza nodded to her and she had smiled.

Feeling that she had lost the man following her, she walked away and proceeded to leave town following a path that went through the forest.

The place she was looking for was on the other side of a mountain that she could get to faster if she took an uncharted path through the forest that the locals had told her to take. They said that the person she was looking for often went into town, taking that path.

On the dirt road which she walked on she felt eyes on her once again but she simply thought that they were just animals who were curious about a human in their forest. She continued.

It was around sunset when she considered maybe just camping there for the night, she was ahead of schedule anyway and she wouldn't lose much time even she slept in. She wondered if it was safe to keep the box with her as she slept and thought about burying it but that would leave marks so she decided to just put it in her pocket dimension for now, but reminded herself to get it back in the morning immediately because there was a chance she couldn't get it back if it stayed there too long, she still had to train to get better control of that, she then set up her tent before going off to find fire wood.

While in the forest that uneasy, feeling grew stronger and Erza kept one hand close to her sword the whole time. She had no idea what monster could be lurking around and even though the sun hadn't gone down completely it was already getting dark in the forest. With a bundle of sticks under one arm and a sword in her other hand she cautiously threaded back to camp only to see peculiar looking stones in the middle of her site.

"What?" She muttered to herself setting down her firewood and taking a closer look.

From his perch a man smiled to himself "Gotcha" he muttered and the stones suddenly rose up from the ground and circled around Erza.

She tried to run but only to slam into an invisible wall. "Who's there?!" She yelled out. "Release me!"

From the shadows a man walked out. Clunk. Clunk. Clunk went his staff as it hit the ground when he walked. She looked him over in disgust. His gray hair was long, matted and dirty as well as his beard. He was dressed in ratty, dirty shirt that must've been white at some point but was now caked with dirt and blood, his pants were no different except they were green underneath all the mess.

"Who are you?" Erza snarled but the man just gave her a serene smile, exposing yellow, crooked teeth that was filled with holes and rotting black spots. She growled in frustration "Requip!"

Nothing happened.

"Requip!" She yelled again but no light enveloped her neither did any magic drain out of her, in fact she couldn't feel her magic at all.

The man laughed at her "Amazing how a few stones can render even the strongest Mages powerless, isn't it?" He asked her and then Erza's invisible prison became visible but only for a moment, just long enought for her to see that she was being contained in a diamond shaped glass prison.

"Magic Sealing Stones?" Erza muttered in horror. She was utterly defensless, her magic rendered useless and she had no way out. "Let me out of here and fight me like a man!" She demanded

"I don't think so girly." He said wagging a finger back in forth in time with his tongue clicking. "You have something I want"

She went rigid "I-I have no idea what you're talking about" she said trying to keep her eyes steady on him as he circled around her prison observing her like a prized pig he was choosing to slaughter.

"Really now?" He said and then almost imperceptibly he raised his staff of the ground "Oh, but I think ya do" he said and a beam of energy was shot straight at her prison.

Erza screamed as white hot pain shot through her and enveloped her very being. "STOP IT!" She yelled as she steadided herself against the wall of her prison. The pain was consistent, traveling through her body from her head, to her chest, to her legs. The only comfort she had was that it didn't get any stronger.

When it was over her chest was heaving as she tried to get the air she lost when she screamed back into her lungs.

"Where is the box, girly?" The man asked again. "You don't have to go through this. Just tell me where is the jewelry box that Jean Haines sent you to deliver." He said, carefully pronouncing each word as if she were child that couldn't understand properly and while she wasn't a child she did have trouble hearing him straight as her blood pounded in her ears.

She clenched her jaw and forced herself to stay on her feet. "I don't know anything" she said through her teeth

The man frowned in disappointment "Shame" he said before raising his staff again.

She screamed again as the pain cut through her again but this time was different. The first time was like a fire that burned and slowly reached to every part of her body but this came at her all at once. The pain seemed to seep into her skin and once it was in it started carving from the inside out, her skin broke out in cuts and lacerations that bled at alarming rates. This went on until he was done and she fell to her knees, desperately trying to bring air back into her body.

"Oh shit!" The man laughed "You okay there kid? You look sick. You're lips are turning blue" He taunted as if he was enjoying every second of hearing her agonized cries.

"Look red, you're strong and all but you and I both know you can't take much more" he said condescendingly.

Her head snapped up and she snarled at him "Go to hell!" She yelled and spat only for her saliva to hit the invisible wall and slowly slide down and for her to gasp at the sudden loss of air.

"Now, now" He said sending another jolt pain through her making her yelp "That any way to talk to the man who has you prisoner?" He asked

"Who the hell are you?" She managed through her teeth

The man frowned "Really now? You don't know me?" He asked sounding offended "And here I thought they'd kept their Mages better informed these days. Red my name is Amos Luxor" he said giving her a courteous bow.

"You? You're a muderer!" She said pointing an accusing finger at him "You kill people for their valuables."

His frown came back "They didn't wanna cooperate so I just had to use..._other _ways of getting what I wanted" he said as if it were as plain as that. "Enough about me girly. You still haven't answered me. Here, I'll even ask politely. Where is the jewelry box?" He asked using a calm, pleasant tone.

"There is no jewelry box" she lied and prepared for the pain. But this time it didn't come

"Look kid, do you think I'm stupid?" He asked he as if they were just engaged in small talk. "You would have no other reason to be on this path other than to get to the mansion on the far side of the mountain. And I know Jean Haines has business with the man who lives there."

She still struggled to catch her breath as she answered "Well then your informant must have made a mistake because as you can see. There is no box"

"You really do think I'm stupid" Luxor rubbed his temples "I can see you're scared red. I see you trembling . You're shaking like a fucking dog"

She didn't respond, not wanting him to have the satisfaction of getting to her. He sighed "Aw, why the hell do you have to make this so hard?" He said, frustratedly rubbing his temples. "Red, you're a Requip mage, right?"

Erza just glared at him and bit her tongue.

"Yeah you are" he answered himself "So you probably have that chest in your little pocket dimension. So why don't you just pull it out for me Ill let you go and be one my way hmm?" He suggested

"You lie." She said "You would kill me even if I did give it to you" she accused but Luxor surprised her by suddenly smiling.

"Ah, so you _do_ have it" he said and Erza realized her slip up and cursed herself internally.

"I never said that" she tried but it was too late.

He tilted his head thoughtfully "I wonder..." He trailed off "Aha! I know! If I kill you everything you have in your pocket dimension will suddenly appear because there's nothing keeping them there anymore! Oh why didn't I think of this before?" He smacked his forehead.

Erza's eyes widened. She didn't know that. That meant that Luxor didn't have a reason to keep her alive. She felt tears start to gather in her eyes...No! She wouldn't beg! She would not show weakness to the likes of him! If this was the end she would not go down with her last words being that of a desperate person's.

"Sorry kid, but looks like I'm gonna have to fry you" he said

She opened her mouth only to close it again, she fought back tears as she struggled to accepted her fate. No. This couldn't be its. She still had so much to do. She still had to find him and ask him why...

Luxor raised his staff and Erza closed her eyes, clenched her teeth and her fists and prepared for death.

"Nice 'knowin ya red I- LUCY KICK!" A high pitched voice yelled out and Erza's eyes shot open to see a blonde and pink cannonball crash straight into Luxor's stomach, sending him and his staff flying.

Her prison suddenly lit up and a loud cracking sound reached her ears. She whirled around to see that same woman from the store this afternoon. She cocked her fist back before she launched it forward and the impact made the crack she had made before get bigger. The girl prepared to punch it again.

"Magic!" Erza yelled "Use magic!" Her voice cracked and desperation finally showed not only in the way she was practically begging to have them free her but also in the sheer panic in her eyes, but she didn't care about that, she needed to breath, she needed to get out.

The blonde girl nodded and stepped back. Her eyes fluttered shut as she put her index and middle finger to her lips and started muttering words too low for her to hear. The tips of her fingers glowed with bright, bluish-white energy and Erza suddenly felt the air around her grow heavy, once again she struggled to breath but this time it was just unpleasant rather than painful. All that weight, that pressure seemed to come from directly from the green eyed woman.

Her eyes flew open and she pointed her fingers directly at the prison_** "Hadō #4: Byakurai!" **_A bolt of pale, bluish lightning shot out from the tip of her fingers and for a moment Erza scared that it might just pass through the barrier and only to hit her again but her fears were misplaced. The moment the bolt made contact her glass prison shattered, the remnants falling harmlessly around her as she fell into the blonde woman's waiting arms.

Wasn't she standing a few feet away a while ago?

Erza shoved those thoughts back into recesses of her mind. She didn't have the time or the strength to worry about it. All she she could focus on was how the blonde woman stared at her with a calculating but not threatening stare. She sat down on the forest floor, set Erza's head gently in her lap and she looked over her injuries.

"That son of a bitch" she muttered under her breath as he looked at her all cut up like a piece of meat. She held a palm over one of the bigger cuts on her forehead and her hand glowed green. Immediately Erza felt herself start to mend, the cuts on her face and neck healing at a steady rate, the bleeding ceased and she could breath. "Be still for now. I don't want you to risk moving just yet." The green-eyed woman told her and she nodded weakly.

She just lay there letting herself be healed, until she heard Luxor yelling and she turned her head in the woman's lap to look at the little blonde girl that had knocked the bastard down and was continuing to beat Luxor down in a most degrading manner.

Luxor made a grab for the little girl and got his arms around her but he brought her too close and she immediately bashed her skull into his. He reeled back in pain while the girl disappeared among the trees.

"Where are you brat?!" He yelled covering an open cut on his forehead that Lucy had made.

The little girl giggled loudly and popped her head out from behinda bush "Peekaboo!" She waved her arms in the air.

The criminal lunged at her but she ducked back down into the foliage. The rustling of the leaves told Erza that the girl was on the move and sure enough she popped back out of cover in a tree behind Luxor. He stood up and whirled around looking for her while the little demon pulled back on a branch as far as she could. "Ha!" She exclaimed when she released it and with a sound like the crack of a whip it hit Luxor directly in the jaw and made him trip back over his own feet.

The girl jumped down from the trees and cupper her chin "Hmm" she hummed observantly as her new plaything was getting up "You're not very good at this are you mister?"

He stood up "You little bitch!" He fumed, running straight at her.

She frowned "That's not very nice" she said. He reached for her again but she back flipped out of his reach. Landing on her palms, she spring boarded off the ground and back in his direction. Surprisingly nimble for an eleven year-old, she landed right on his shoulders, her legs wrapping around his neck and her hands covering his eyes.

"Betcha can't see now can ya?!" The little blonde hellion laughed in delight as if the whole thing was just a game.

"Get off me you little-ack!" He yelled, or tried to. With the little girl's feet locked together, straining against his throat, his air was being cut off and he feverishly clawed at his throat and tried to pry her off of him.

"Go horsie! Go!" The girl said while Luxor ran around bumping into trees and smacking into branches while the little she-devil just easily dodged every obstacle that came her way. When he tried to reach up a hand to grab her she clamped her teeth down on his middle and ring finger and he cried out as they started to bleed.

"Lucy enough" The blonde woman suddenly said to the girl she now knew was named Lucy and in response the younger blonde clamped her teeth down harder, digging her teeth into the frail bones of the criminal till they cracked.

Luxor screamed in pain and fell to his knees clutching the bleeding stumps as the little girl spit out his severed fingers into the bushes and pouted.

"Aww! Okay" she said before removing her hands from Luxor's eyes then kicking off his back making him fall face-first into the dirt where Lucy neatly landed on the back of his head and dug her heels into his neck.

"I can deal with him" she said to Lucy who nodded in understanding. Lucy hopped off Luxor's head only to slam her foot back down on him when he groaned.

"Back to sleep!" Lucy said grinding his face into the dirt, for emphasis. "Neesan, she doesn't look too good. Is she going to be ok?" She said in a cute, high-pitched voice that so full of sincerity and concern. Erza found it strange and utterly out place with the hyperactive cannonball she was in battle although the blood on her face and teeth might've said otherwise.

"I should take her home to rest right?" She said before wiping her face and spitting out a mixture of Luxor's blood and her saliva on the ground.

"Yes, but give me a few more seconds for the cuts on her legs and then get her home and help her wash away the blood" She instructed and the little girl nodded compliantly.

Erza on the other hand was not okay with the idea of someone else other than herself getting her out her armor "I-I am capable of doing that myself-ah!" She yelped when her supposed healer prodded her injured knee.

She shook her head "Nope. You don't seem that capable to me" she said, ignoring Erza's blatant glare and Lucy's giggling in the background "Okay try to stand up" she said

Stand up? She didn't think she could sit up after that whole ordeal but the blonde woman looked at her expectantly and she took in a deep breath before forcing herself up with her arms. She winced at the slight pain that shot through her torso as she tried to correct herself. She felt hands on her shoulders and looked up to see Lucy looking at her with concern.

"Steady now" she said in a caring and soft voice that once again surprised Erza because of the change of demeanor. "Lean on me and put an arm around my shoulders I'll hold you up"

"Okay." Erza said with bated breath.

The blonde woman suddenly stood up and a dark look crept into her features as she stared down at the unconscious form of Amos Luxor "Get her to the vehicle Lucy, bring her home and have her taken care of." She commanded and without any questions or complaints her student followed carrying Erza in the opposite direction.p

The red headed mage spared a glance over her shoulder to see the blonde woman was suddenly holding Luxor upright by his greasy hair and she was holding a sword in her other hand.

"What are you-argh!-going to do to him?" She said gritting her teeth when she accidentally put weight on one of her injured legs.

She didn't look in ther direction nor did she answer the question, instead she simply ordered Lucy to go "Get her to the vehicle _now_" she said and Erza could have sworn there was a slight undertone to her voice as if she was growling like an animal. Every hair on Erza's body stood up on end and fear suddenly gripped her heart.

"Let's go" Lucy insisted before dragging Erza off hesitantly. She took one more look back and she swore she saw those kind green eyes turn blood red.

"Lucy was it?" Erza asked her as they trekked through the woods with her barely able to walk and the little girl supporting her weight like it was nothing.

She nodded "Yeah, that's my name" she confirmed, adjusting their position so that Erza's bad foot was not touching the ground.

"What is she going to do with Luxor?" Lucy didn't answer "Is she going to kill him?" She trying to keep the shakiness out of her voice. Something told her that it was a bad idea to show weakness to either of the two blondes.

"Kill him? No." Lucy finally answered her and Erza would have felt better if Lucy's sweet innocent face didn't have such a dark look on it.

"Just stop talking and walk" Lucy commanded and for now she would follow

A few more minutes of walking later Erza finally caught sight of the dirt path she had diverged from and in the middle of the road was a magical vehicle manned by two guards, one of which had the SE plug of the vehicle on his wrist.

"Davis! Fischer!" Lucy called out and both of the guards turned their heads to look wide-eyed at her and Erza.

"Miss Lucy!" They cried and instantly the door of the vehicle flew open and out came a man Erza easily identified as Lucy's father with his matching blonde hair and brown eyes.

"My god" he said looking over her bloody clothes and her dirty face "Lucy, what happened?" He moved to the side to let his daughter set Erza down on the of the seats with her back against the interior wall.

Lucy then stuck her head out the window and slapped the side of the vehicle twice to call the attention of the drivers "Get us home and hurry please!" She told them and soon the engine came to life and they were moving.

The man looked at her, worriedly "Is she alright?"

Erza opened her mouth to answer but Lucy cut her off, much to her annoyance.

"She's fine. Neesan healed her"

"She doesn't look to good"

"She was being held prisoner when we found her."

"She's covered in blood"

"She is sitting right here" Erza said, irately raising a hand to remind them.

They both turned to look at her with matching sheepish looks that made the resemblance between them even more prominent. "Sorry" Lucy muttered

"The blonde woman" Erza said through her teeth. "The one who freed me. What's her name? She's your sister right?"

Lucy shook her head "No, she's not my actual sister but she is like one to me." She explained

"How did you find me?"

"We were heading home from Valencia and neesan heard screaming so she ran out of the four-wheeler and into the forest to find you and I followed her"

"Why did you two save me?" She asked, as she tried to shake away the black spots that danced in her vision. Most of her injuries were healed but she was still recovering from the lack of oxygen.

The little girl looked at her strangely "Why wouldn't we?" She asked, in a confused tone "You were in trouble and that meanie was hurting you. What other reason would there be?"

Erza blinked owlishly. She said it as if there was nothing more to it, as if it was just as simple as saving someone for the sake of saving someone "What if I was the bad one? You couldn't have known that"

"Nee-san said you were a good person and I trust her"

A good person? Her? She couldn't consider herself that after all that she'd done, and even if she atoned for those sins they still happened, she still did commit them. This Emerald person might've said that she was good but Erza knew the blood that stained her hands said otherwise.

"If I may" Lucy's father raised his hand "Why were you on this side of the mountain? The only thing past here is our manor"

"Your manor?" Something the back of Erza's mind clicked "_You're_ Jude Heartfilia!" She exclaimed trying to lean forward out of habit only to flinch and fall back when pain shot up her spine again.

"Easy!" Jude accidentally raised his voice. He was very inexperienced with this kind of situation and was nearly starting to panic, seeing so much blood. "Don't strain yourself"

Ignoring his sudden outburst she tapped into her magic and pulled a brown satchel out of her pocket dimension "Sir, I've been tasked by Jean Haines to deliver this to you safely. I would've gotten it to you sooner but well, things happened" She said handing it to him.

"Haines, you say?" She nodded "Then I know what this is" he said pulling out the box. The moment the light inside the car was caught the gems lit up like multicolored fireflies against the walls. He turned it around in his hands and a small, nostalgic smile crossed his face "Still as beautiful as the day I last saw it"

"Mr. Haines says that the debt has been wiped and he says..." She hesitated not wanting to bring up a possibly sore subject "He says he gives you his deepest condolences"

"That old bastard" Jude chuckled "I never got around to paying that debt. The geezer wouldn't let me give him even a single jewel."

"Daddy was is it?" Lucy peeked over his arms

He smiled "It's a jewelry box dear" he said "And it was Layla's. It was your mother's"

"Oh" Lucy said in a small voice "It's so pretty" she stared at it in wonder

Erza watched this with a mix of emotions that stirred in her chest. It wasnt hard for her to figure out why Haines had sent his condolences. She knew in the way Jude had said _was_ and in the way he said the name of Lucy's mother, with happiness, nostalgia, sorrow, and love. She wasn't sure what memories were attached to the box but she was suddenly not as regretful of taking the mission.

"Thank you" Jude said his eyes shining with unshed tears.

* * *

**Emerald**

She stared down emotionlessly at the husk of a man that lay at her feet.

He was pale, his eyes vacant only containing the smallest sign of life. His mouth hung open and his breathing was raspy and unbalanced despite looking like he was breathing his chest didn't move. He wasn't alive but not dead either, the very dim light in his eyes and the agonized moaning signified this. It was more like he was clinging on to the thinnest shreads of his life.

_**"Poor bastard"**_ Ryūketsu commented _**"Then again, this outcome was his own making"**_

Emerald sheathed her sword "When you spill innocent blood the only price you can pay that will equal that life is the one that you own" she quoted out loud, knowing that there was no one around to think she was talking to herself not that she would give a shit if someone did.

_**"But should you take more than one, you will meet a fate worse than death alone" **_Ryūketsu continued for her

"Irina's words of wisdom" She muttered before turning around and walking away, leaving the empty shell that was once Amos Luxor behind.

_**"Strange that she said that yet she was raised as a trained killer"**_ Ryūketsu chortled, somehow finding it amusing

"She didn't know any better back then, she only did what others told her was right." She defended. She jumped up, gracefully landing on a thin branch that should have snapped at her weight but when she had punished Luxor she had changed into her soul form and so she practically weighed nothing as she was just a ghost for now.

_**"Touchy." **_The Zanpakutō spirit teased _**"I was just pointing out the irony, I would never insult a fellow Alpha. Why do you always have to be so serious about everything?"**_ Emerald could practically see the spirit pouting. She shook her head and focused on getting back to the manor.

She moved through the trees going at a speed that made her wonder if she could beat the four-wheeler despite it's advantage, having already been travelling twenty minutes before her. She then thought about that Erza girl. When she first scoped her out in town she only saw a name and age, making quite sure to avoid looking at the countdown clock. But when she had looked at her out of the corner of one blood red eye she did catch a glimpse of one memory, Steel bars, children, fire, an old man a tower. It wasn't very clear. She immediately turned away to focus on Luxor while the two young girls made their way out of the forest.

The forest...

What the hell was the girl doing here anyway? There was nothing out here but the Heartfilia Konzern, unless of course that was where she wanted to go. Was she the mage Jude told her about? She was clearly a mage, Emerald could feel all that untapped energy in her from a mile away. That was another thing that had her confused. When she first saw Erza her magic felt strong and plentiful but when she found her again in the forest, in that prison it was like she didnt have even a drop of magic in her.

These thoughts and countless questions rattled in her head as she made her way back and she soon broke through the tree line and was standing before the facade of the grand Heartfilia manor.

She was disappointed to see that she did not beat the four-wheeler as it came to a halt right as she came out of the foliage, but she did make it back before, Lucy, Jude and Erza had exited the vehicle. She walked right up to them and her surrogate younger sister was the first one to notice her presence.

"Em-nee!" She exclaimed, running right at her and tackling her waist. Emerald chuckled at her childish behavior but reached down to cup the back of her head softly.

"You're acting like you haven't seen me for days" she released he hold on Lucy "So, how's our red-headed guest?" She said, seeing out of the corner of her eye tha Davis and Fischer were excorting her and Jude into the house, with Erza leaning on Davis's stocky frame.

As per a running joke they had around the Konzern about Lucy being her little soldier, Lucy stood stock straight with one hand to her eyebrow in a mock salute "She's still in some pain. But I think she's out of danger thanks to you ma'm" she reported dutifully, she then lost the little soldier front and she frowned.

"And? What else?"

The look on her face looked thoughtful and serious, completely unorthodox for such a young girl who should be thinking about boys and pretty dresses. Nope! Her little Lucy was all about fighting, magic and grown up stuff.

"She gave something to daddy" she said in a strangely restrained voice, her eyes to the ground and her hands writing each other nervously.

"The jewelry box?"

Lucy looked up at her in surprise "You knew?"

"You're dad told me weeks ago that he was expecting it" she said kneeling down to her surrogate little sister's level "I promise I'll explain later, for now I have to finish healing Erza okay?"

Lucy looked like she wanted to protest but she just nodded "Okay"

Emerald smiled and ruffled the little girl's hair. "Thanks." She gave Lucy a smirk "Dismissed private Heartfilia! Now get in there and take a bath, you're dirty"

Lucy returned it with a full-blown grin before saluting once more "Yes ma'm!"

She laughed as Lucy practically skipped into the mansion.

The smile on her face immediately dissolved when the little girl was out of sight. Not wanting to encounter anyone on the way or have to explain anything she flashed to the room she sensed Erza was in and quickly headed inside.

"What did you do to him?" she heard as soon as she came in. Erza regarded her with a hard look and a guarded expression. She was laying in the bed of a guest room on the third floor of the Heartfilia manor. Her head was elevated with several pillows keeping her head up at a comfortable angle.

Emerald raised an eyebrow "No "Thank you for saving my ass" or "Thank you from freeing me from my torture chamber"? You got anything like that for me kid?" Her voice was neutral, there was no mocking tone or hostile tone for that matter, she didn't exactly trust the mental and emotional state the girl was in after her torture so she wasn't quite sure how to speak to her.

The Requip mage flushed in embarrassment "Thank you and I'm sorry" she said sheepishly.

She sat down on the bed, instantly feeling Erza tense. "Relax, I just want to finish what I started." She said holding up a hand and sending _**reiryoku**_ into it. Her hand suddenly glowed and it cut through the darkness in the room and bathed their faces in green light. "I'm gonna need you take off that armor or I won't be able to get to the ones on your chest"

Erza looked at her suspiciosly before muttering "Requip" and her armor was enveloped in a white glow

When the light died down she was left in her dress but Emerald ordered that off ask ell so she was left clad only in a pair of shorts and a white undershirt. Emerald looked her over one more time, politely asking permission to see the cuts on the young girl's chest and stomach. Her hands went to work. Thankfully all the cuts had stopped bleeding and were mostly closed now, all that was left was scabs and pinkish marks, she could take care of those easily but that was only on the parts of her body that she had been able to reach back in the forest.

Her torso was in a worse but not unmanageable condition, she went to work on them before they could begin to bleed again.

"My name is Emerald by the way" She said after a while "I'm sure you already know my little sister, Lucy"

She just nodded and it was silent again.

"I've never met anyone with healing magic before" Erza said out of nowhere while Emerald worked over her "Much less someone who uses two kinds of magic. Even my guild's medical specialist doesn't use magic, she uses herbs and medicines" Erza said, smiling fondly at the thought of the old woman who chased people away with a broom.

Emerald stopped. She lost her concentration and her pace slowed slightly but she didn't stop healing Erza "It's not magic" she said dismissively, her tone morphing into a clipped and almost cold one.

Erza gave her a confused look "Then what is it? Are you using Lacrima or anything of the like?" She looked down at her healer's hands to see that they were entirely open and empty of anything.

The Shinigami licked her lips before her teeth trapped her lower lip between them "It's just an... ability I have" her eyes pointedly avoided Erza's but out of the corner of one she saw Erza's look of doubt.

"Look Erza" she gave her a slight scowl "Some things are better left unknown"

The red head looked at her with narrowed eyes "How did you-"

"Neesan" Emerald turned her head to see Lucy already dressed in her pajamas. Seeing Erza's state of undress she shrunk back and disappeared slightly behind the door only her eyes and above peeking out from behind it "Oh, I'm sorry. I thought you'd be done by now" she barely said, her voice rather quiet and shy.

To Erza's obvious surprise, evidenced by her raising a thin, red eyebrow, Emerald's features softened and the corners of her lips upturned in a gentle smile. "It's ok" she says in a sisterly manner.

She turned back to Erza with a surprising kindness in her eyes that was not there moments ago "You don't mind if she comes in right?" She asked with such a genuine look that Erza couldn't help but shake her head to signify that she didn't.

Lucy smiled and stepped inside hopping up onto the bed, barely missing Erza's bad leg. "Do you feel better?" She asked taking Erza's hand softly.

Emerald watched this with a forced blank expression. She was resisting the smile that threatened to creep into her lips while she watched Erza look utterly lost.

"She's fine Lu" she assured her "I just need to finish here and then she can rest up"

Erza, still looking confused, gave a shake of her head "I will leave as soon as the treatment is done." She informed them "I don't want to be anymore of a burden than I already am-Ah! You have to stop doing that!" She yelped when Emerald poked one of her bruises hard

"Bullshit" Emerald said and then winked at Lucy "You're dad doesn't need to know about that. Alright?"

Lucy smiled and nodded.

"Anyway, bullshit kid." Emerald continued "You will stay here for tonight or for as long as you need to."

Erza tried to argue "I don't want to intrude" she insisted "Mr. Heartfilia will probably want me out as soon as possible"

"Nope" Lucy chirped. "Daddy said he's really grateful for what you did and that he's sorry you had to go through so much" Lucy frowned when she looked at the healing cuts on her body. "Plus, daddy would want you to stay as payment cause we both know you won't accept money cause it is a mission so that's that" she said stubbornly

"Just let them repay you." Emerald said "That box means a lot to this family" She added, finally finishing the process and letting the green glow die down.

"There. Done" Emerald said pulling Erza's undershirt back in place "You're lucky they weren't too bad kid"

"Thank you" she said "Andstop calling me kid. I'm thirteen" she frowned

Emerald ignored her complaint "It's no trouble. Just like it will be no trouble for you stay here for now. And trust me when I say that none of us in the manor will take no for an answer" she said firmly

"Well.. If you're sure" Erza relented "May I at least have the names of my saviors?" She asked politely

Lucy pouted "I already told you mine. You forgot?" Lucy accused before curtsying "My name is Lucy Heartfilia, a pleasure to meet you."

Erza stared at her strangely "She was raised as a lady, an heiress." Emerald informed her "I was not however. Emerald, Emerald Walker" She held out a hand and Erza took it but not before narrowing her eyes slightly

"Erza Scarlet" Erza shuffled awkwardly beneath the covers "Umm. If you don't mind me asking what exactly is the significance of that box? All I know is it belonged to Mr. Heartfilia's wife, to Layla"

At the mention of Lucy's mother a warm feeling seemed to creep into the room and it looked just the smallest bit brighter. Emerald smiled knowingly "Well, I was going to tell Lucy so I might as well tell you"

"Can I?" Lucy asked her surrogate older sister patting her lap. When Emerald nodded Lucy gracefully jumped up and sat herself on top of the older blonde's thighs.

"Up ya go!" Emerald chuckled as she lifted Lucy slightly by the waist only to let her back down while she giggled. She looked back to Erza who once again watched them with disbelieving eyes.

"Ah, where do I start?" She asked no one in particular "Okay. Umm, The box did belong to Lucy's mother, Layla. It was a family heirloom that has been in the family for about five generations of Ashley women, Ashley being Layla's maiden name." She began

She looked down at Lucy with a small smile "When Jude was first starting out, this business just beginning to bloom, they came into a bad spot and were short on money. Layla, without Jude's consent borrowed a loan from a close family friend,Jean Haines, with the box used as downpayment. Jude was was angry for a while but he got over it quick when he realized Layla did it for him."

"When the business finally took off Jude could have payed it back at any time but Haines wouldn't accept even a single jewel from him. Layla was like a niece to him, he wouldn't do that to her. The box was going to be returned even though they hadn't fully paid him back and Layla was supposed to go to him herself but she...she got sick" she was careful with her words, not wanting to bring up any bad memories for Lucy. She felt the little girl slip her hand into her larger one

She gave Lucy's hand a gentle squeeze and avoided Erza's eyes "When she passed away Jude..got busy and lost contact with Haines. That was until last July 1st"

"My birthday?" Lucy suddenly perked up

"Mhm" she hummed holding Lucy closer "Haines sent Jude a letter asking how he was holding up and how you were. He remembered from Layla that you would be turning eleven this year and as per tradition the box should have been passed down to you, the last female with Ashley blood."

"If the box had been set for delivery since July why was the request out in a month after?" Erza inquired remembering that she had found the request on the board back at the guild hall only recently.

"That's because it was already attempted by Haines' own men and even some Rune Knights. But the whole caravan just to protect one package was too suspicious and the guards kept getting ambushed with one person always, luckily, getting away. It was attempted maybe five times. At that point Jude had gotten worried and informed me about it and I volunteered to go get it myself, hell, I was ready to run when another letter arrived two days ago saying Haines had put in a request with a mage guild and that it was accepted"

"So you knew I was coming? Is that why you were staring at me back in town?" Erza asked

"No" she shook her head "Haines never described you, we were expecting someone a little older, actually" she said sheepishly, assuring Erza that she wasn't undermining her in any way.

Emerald turned back to Lucy "It was supposed to be a surprise birthday gift but the cat ripped the bag apart and busted himself out" she said

"It's ok. It's still a nice surprise to have an official guild mage here in the house" she said smiling brightly at Erza who blushed under the attention.

"What's guild are you from?" Lucy asked eagerly

Emerald was surprised to see a sudden light in Erza's eyes brighten "The best in Fiore. Fairy Ta-"

"FAIRY TAIL?! YOURE FROM FAIRY TAIL?! AAAAAAAAH!" Lucy shrieks and Emerald cringed covering her sensitive ears as Lucy bounced from her lap around the room in excitement.

Erza had an entirely different reaction, a sweatdrop forming on her brow "Uhh. I take it you've heard of us"

While Lucy was hopping around Emerald reached her hand out and just in time, she grabbed the collar of Lucy's pajamas. "She's a fan" Emerald said trying to be her little sister to calm down.

"Ive always wanted to join a guild!" Lucy exclaimed.

Erza raised an eyebrow "I didn't realize you're a mage"

"She's a Celestial Spirit mage but as you saw she can take care of herself just fine." Emerald said proudly

The Requip mage didn't lose that sparkle in her eyes when she stared at Lucy "We would be honored to have the two of you be a part of Fairy Tail"

Lucy beamed while Emrald just smiled appreciatively at Erza "You think so?" Lucy shuffled on her feet nervously, suddenly aware of the attention.

"I know so"

* * *

**Erza**

She went to sleep and woke up just as confused as she was last night.

The Emerald girl, not really a girl anymore, and the little girl, Lucy were unbelievably strange. The former reminded her a tad of Mirajane, only she wasn't such an annoying bitch, she acted a certain way towards other people and acted another way towards Lucy.

Lucy was this sweet, polite little girl that Erza knew had not seen much of the world as she still had this innocence in her. But when she was fighting Luxor, though she was smiling and laughing her eyes told a different story, she was enjoying his pain. She was a little devil in battle, exploiting people's weaknesses, and fighting as dirty as possible. She was lithe and agile, her small frame suiting whatever fighting style Erza was sure Emerald taught her.

And then there was Emerald herself with the other people in town, she was stoic, her green eyes giving hard and cold stares that weren't exactly judgmental but still, you felt as if she was staring into your very soul. She was also a caring, gentle older sister. She saw it in the way she smiled when Lucy was around and in the way she held Lucy against her chest when she told them the story of the box. Erza suspected that there was another side to Emerad that she had seen only briefly, when she had freed Erza from the prison whatever spell, or as she said "ability" she used, the look in her eyes was like neither of the previous.

She couldn't quite understand them, they made themselves such a mystery. Like last night, Lucy had fallen asleep while Erza told her stories of her adventures and the places she's been to and just as Emerald had carried her out and said goodnight something struck Erza's memory

"Wait" she had said, the green-eyed girl had turned around to look at her "You didn't tell me exactly what you're capable of and when you were healing me you called me Erza, I never told you or her my name"

Emerald expression changed from an amused smile she directed at Lucy to a blank facade "Like I said Erza. Somethings are better left unknown"

Cryptic. Confusing. That's what they were.

She didn't think she had the time to dissect their personalities as she planned to leave first thing in the morning but then she thought of Lucy being so excited that she was in Fairy Tail and she got to imagining what it would be like to have the, be her guild mates, her nakama. She had a feeling Emerald would be cold to everyone at the start but would learn to trust everyone. Natsu would annoy her, so would Gray and Mira, please that white-haired hag could annoy the hell out of anyone. She probably wouldn't enjoy the rowdiness at first but Erza had a feeling Lucy would just enjoy it all.

After a few minutes of figuring out wha she was going to do next she packed her things, pleasantly surprised to see that her dress had been washed and ironed, completely clean of her blood and her boots had been brushed and polished as well. She would thank them on her way out. She couldn't stay here much longer it would be taking advantage of their hospitality.

With the thought of searching for Emerald and Lucy to thank them and Mr. Heartfilia as well. She was already dressed when she heard the voices of the very people she was looking for outside her window

"Open Gate of The Goat!" She heard Lucy's little voice yell surprisingly loud "Capricorn!"

Outside the glass door that let to the balcony a golden light script into the room and the sound of a bell rang clear. Erza made her way out to the balcony. Her room was located in a deeper part of the mansion so the balcony to her room, parallel to the bed, was facing the back field or Lucy's training field.

She quickly traveled down to the first floor, making sure to politely nod to the staff when they greeted her, and she was greet by the sight of the oddest bunch of people she had ever seen engaged in hand-to-hand combat.

Now Erza had seen and even gone up against a Celestial Spirit mage before. All that man had done was stand back while his spirit fought for him, so she was pleasantly surprised to see Lucy fighting alongside who she assumed was Capricorn, judging from the goat horns and the goat ...face. She stood up against Emerald and an old man Erza recognized as a part of the staff.

It was a little girl and her goat versus a teenaged girl and an old man...Magic was never normal, anyway.

She watched the fight with rapt attention amazed at how skilled the old man was with his staff, at how powerful Lucy's strikes were and how versatile she was with a whip and a few knives, at how fast the goats was and how Emerald wasn't even getting hit once.

She and the old man worked well together, each of them making openings for the other and Lucy and her partner were doing just as good, with Capricorn being the offense and her making openings and defending for him. She could see that Lucy's style was mainly defensive and that it matched her teacher's.

Her's and Emerald's style involved using their opponent's own momentum against them observed by how Lucy ducks neatly under the old man thrusting his Bō forward and grabs it, throwing it and her opponent over her head and slamming him against the soft dirt. The style also involved going for point that would temporarily incapacitate the enemy. This was shown in the way Emerald rolled away from the goat man stomping on her and she kicks him in the side of the knee as his foot comes down Erza could clearly hear something snap inside the goat man's leg and he bleats out in pain.

The fighting style suited people like them, not exactly the biggest or physically strongest but fast and agile. All four of them were so amazingly capable and were so ruthless even in this little training session that Erza thought they were trying to kill each other at first.

She thought it would end in a stalemate until Emerald grabbed the back of the old man's robe and threw him at the goat man, the speed made Erza's had spin when her eye tried to follow but couldn't. The little man landed square on the goat man's shoulder quicky vaulting over it, putting has staff to the goat's neck he planted his foot on Capricorn's back and grabbed the other end of the staff and pulled choking the air out of his opponent.

Capricorn tapped the old man's hand and he released his hold. The goat man sat down and so did the old man, leaving Lucy and Emerald on their feet, still fighting.

To Erza's surprise Lucy was quick to draw two knives from her utility belt and grasp one in each hand before flinging it straight at her opponent, with killing instent. Emerald quickly weaved under it and deflected the next knife but Lucy was relentless throwing blade after blade at her only for the to clatter to the ground or impale themselves into trees. But what Erza didn't notice was that Lucy was just doing it to get closer.

Whe she was within reach Lucy lashed out with her whip. Emerald didnt fight it or try to pull herself free when the leather cord wrapped around her ankle. Lucy yanked hard and her feet flew out from under her. Before she could get up Lucy was on top of her a knife to her throat. But Erza also saw that Emerald had quickly picked up a nearby knife and held it to Lucy's throat.

Lucy heaved "Tie?"

Emerald smirked "Not quite." Erza then saw Emerald tap Lucy stomach with another blade she hadn't seen previously. "You shouldn't have charged in like that. If I was a mage and used any kind of magic on you, you would've been completely open to an attack" she said before Lucy sighed and rolled off of her and into then grass.

"Aww! Why can I never get you?!" She whined

Emerald smirked "Lucy, I'm your teacher. I'm supposed to be better than you" she reminded before sitting up and turning to Erza

"Enjoy the show?" Emerald asked her, not even out of breath but she was sweating.

"You're all very skilled" Erza complemented "Such an unusual style you use" She commented.

"It was one of the styles my teacher taught me" She said retrieving a bottle of water from under a tear by tree before passing it to Lucy who greedily drank it all down. "The other styles I've taught her involve dirty fighting and deception, but you already saw that last night"

The old man and the goat walked (or limped in the latter's case) towards them and Emerald was quick to introduce them "This is Bero, Lucy's Celestial Spirit Summoning teacher and this is Capricorn, one of Lucy's spirits and the goat with steel elbows" she said rubbing her shoulder, which was already turning purplish.

The goat man let out a cross between a chuckle and a bleat "Ms. Lucy ordered me not to hold back" he defended.

"I wouldn't have had it any other way" Emerald assured, before Capricorn bowed to her and then to Lucy before disappearing in the flash of golden light from wence he came Turning back to Erza she wiped sweat off her brow "So what brings you here?"

Erza smiled "I just wanted to thank you and be on my way. I need to get back or the guild might start to worry."

"My dear" Bero said stepping forward "You should at least have breakfast with us first, you have a long journey ahead of you, I believe. All the way back to Magnolia and Fa-"

Emerald covered his mouth with her hand "Don't say the F word or Lucy will have another spaz attack" she said jerking her thumb in the direction of the eleven year-old, who had fallen asleep in the grass.

"Regardless. You must eat with us first, we won't take no for an answer" Bero insisted, giving her his usual serene smile.

Erza relented.

She didn't know what to expect when she was going to eat with them but she certainly didn't expect the almost rowdy, gathering of all the staff sitting down to a delicious meal and talking as if they were all family. She had gone on missions for rich people before and a lot of the clients treated their staff like dirt but these people interacted with each other as if they were all equals.

Mr. Heartfilia of course sat at the head with Lucy at his right and Erza at his lefty. He had given her that seat so they could hear each other better. On Lucy's right was Emerald eating her food, nodding and answering when spoken to and laughing when someone cracked a joke. Strangely, Erza didn't feel out of place.

When the meal was done and the dishes cleaned up she thanked everyone and told them she was ready to leave. They all seemed genuinely disappointed to see her go, they had called her nice and well-mannered.

To her surprise the magic four-wheeler from last night was waiting outside.

"Thank you for all you've done" Jude had said to her "Davis and Fischer will take you as far as Clover town where you can take a train to Magnolia"

"Sir, I couldnt" she tried "You've already fed me and let me stay here I would be intruding"

"Nonsense" he smiled "I insist and I won't take no for an answer"

Once again she was forced to just accept their kindness as it was clear Lucy had gotten her stubborn streak from her father.

"Will I ever see you two again?" Erza asked and Emerald shrugged while Lucy smiled

"I hope so. So you can tell me more about your adventures" Lucy said.

Erza smiled at her and held out a hand "Well, goodbye" she said

The little girl jumped forward and wrapped her arms around Erza's shoulder, nearly knocking her backwards. "Goodbye" she said, pulling away "It was nice meeting you"

Emerald chuckled at her little sister's behavior before shaking Erza's hand "See ya around kid" she ruffled her red hair and Erza swatted away her hands in retaliation

"Stop calling me that" she said making Emerald laugh again.

* * *

**Lucy**

While the four-wheeler went off into the distance Lucy couldn't help think back to those stories Erza had told her about fighting monsters, going into caves to search for relics and she also thought back to the white-sand beach and dark forest Emerald had shown her, the world outside that she had yet to discover.

"Neesan" she said shifting her older sister's attentions away from the vehicle

"Hmm?" she hummed in response

"What would you say if I wanted to join a guild?"

* * *

**Done! Okay so stuff happened here. Review! What did you think was it good? Was it meh? Let me know but if you're gonna hate or flame go fuck yourself**


	8. The Flashback Chapter (unrevised)

**Hey guys I just want to thank those who leave reviews and favorite this, it really helps boost my confidence when it comes to writing. **

**Reviews &amp; Favorites =Writing Fuel**

**Also I have an announcement which will appear at the end. If your interested in finding out what happened to the others who got taken I suggest you read it**

**Enjoy chappie 8**

* * *

**Chapter 8: The Flashback Chapter**

* * *

**Year: X779 (July) **

**Location: Freesia **

**Emerald**

It's been exactly ten months and three days since she and Lucy left the Konzern and things have changed to say the least.

Emerald could see it in Lucy's eyes.

Gone was that innocent little girl who knew almost nothing about the evils of the world that lay outside the borders of her family's land and in her place was a scarred, wounded but enduring warrior that had a sort of evil of her own inside. But she knew better than to show this side to the world, she was raised as a lady and would not shame her father's name in such a way.

When they were in the wood she was covered in grime, dirt and the blood of the animals she caught and skinned only for her teacher, her alpha to prepare for them. They had lived off the land for a majority of their time spent out there. But when they spent time in towns and hotels instead of among the wild beasts and in caves she became a proper young Lady once again. It had become pattern, two months in the wild, one in the city. She didn't want Lucy to lose her humanity completely, but se als wanted her lose the naivety.

So behind that little girl was a beast in it's cave, watching and obediently waiting for the time when it could let loose and devastate. That time would come soon but first there was something to be done.

In the town of Freesia inside the place known as the Arrowhead they sat. She knew it was coming but Lucy just sat there, unsuspectingly reading this week's issue of Sorcerer Magazine and completely ignorant of what was to happen next.

Her eyes flitted off the the left to see a man walking up to them and she readied herself. She could sense the others moving, closing in. It wouldn't be long now...

The man from before tapped on Lucy shoulder "Excuse me?"

She looked up from her magazine "Yes?"

"Are you Lucy Heartfilia?" He asked politely

"Yes" she nodded hesitantly

He smiled, and his hand creeped behind his back to take something out "I've got something here for you"

Lucy tensed, the muscle in her jaw subtly clenching along with her fists.

A slight rattle was heard from behind him and Lucy poised to spring.

"A message for you ma'm" he said slowly pulling the object out from behind him and it was revealed to be...a tambourine?

"What the fu-HAPPY BIRTHDAY LUCY!" The staff all jumped in and yelled.

"Em?" Lucy looked at her accusingly and Emerald smiled guiltily.

Tambourines and rattles shook "1..2..1,2,3,4!"

"Happy Birthday to you~" Emerald sang and clapped with the staff. The other customers looked over curiously at the little blonde, now twelve year-old, girl who blushed and sank in her seat under all the attention. She only got more embarrassed when the Emerald encouraged the entire restaurant to sing with them. She even established a mental link so Ryuketsu's could join in. _**"Happy Birthday to you~"**_

But that embarrasment turned into delights when the kitchen doors burst open and two employees rolled out a massive four layer strawberry and vanilla cake with twelve candles on each layer. The other people cheered but Emerald sweatdropped. She ordered the biggest cake for Lucy but damn! The thing was taller than the little girl herself, and yet despite looking like it would eat her rather than the other way around Lucy stared at it with literal stars in her eyes.

"Happy Birthday Lucyyyyy~" there was a pause "Happy Birthday to yoooou~" they cheered and clapped when they finished the song.

"Thank you! Thank you all so much" she gave the entire establishment a beaming smile "But I couldn't possibly finish this all on my own, so your all welcome to have a piece" she told them and people applauded and whooped.

"That was nice of you" Emerald commented when Lucy sat down and people started lining up for a slice.

"Well it was true even if you had helped me I couldn't finish that thing" She shugged "Figured since we all these people here and you dragged them into singing for me might as well give them a reward for it"

"You are too nice"

"Only when I should be" she answered ominously, her eyes taking on a dark look that showed nowhere in her face.

Tha answer made Emerald disturbed and proud at the same time. Lucy had quite honestly taken everything she had taught the little girl and absorbed it like a damned sponge. Even the look she had given her just now, Emerald would recognize it anywhere as a "Wolf Stare", a look that promises bad things will happen to you should you try to even look at someone she cares about the wrong way. It was that look that kept them from being annoyed or slowed down by petty thieves.

"Only when I should be" she had said, Emerald had been witness to times when she didn't want to be before and the result had made her more proud than any older sister could have been.

* * *

**Five Months Ago**

"Please just a little bit of bread?" The girl covered in grime and dirt asked them right before they could make camp in the forest in the mountains. "My brother and I are starving, we can't survive another night without food. Please" she begged, her eyes wet with unshed tears

Lucy had looked to her and wha stared back were emotionless, blood-red eyes that betrayed nothing. "It's your call" Emerald told her firmly.

She had nodded and took a deep breath before she turned back to the girl "What's your name?"

"Carrie" she answered "A-and my brother is Girard" she added stuttering, she took a step closer to them as she spoke.

Lucy's eyes narrowed "Why are you out here?"

"Carrie" shuffled closer again "My parents were both killed in a fire and we lost all our belongings, the money they had left for us was stolen by our uncle so we were forced onto the streets." She answered the droplets finally spilling down her cheeks. "Please, I'm telling the truth! My brother will die"

After a tense silence Lucy exhaled "Okay" she said and the girl's face broke out into a smile.

Lucy stepped forward and stood in front of the girl. The smile she had melted and was replaced by a scowl "I don't believe you" she said before she kicked the inside of the girl's knee, forcing her out of balance. She swiftly spins around the girl and is suddenly pushing her down onto the ground, with her hands pinned behind her back,Lucy's elbow digging into her hand

"Carrie" kept struggling and Emerald stepped forward and ripped a necklace off of her. Slowly her features started to melt and she started to grow until she was a black-haired, middle-aged man with a scar running from his forehead, over his right eye and to his chin.

"Well, well well" Emerald said "Look what we have hear" she said and the man she and Lucy had come up to the mountains to capture as a mission looked up at her with absolute loathing in his eyes. She pulled out a paper from a pocket inside her leather jacket and put it next to the man's face.

"Well is it him?" Lucy said, putting more force to pushing him down.

Emerald nodded "Redfort Darius" she crouched down and grabbed on to his hair, forcing him to look at her "Did you think people wouldn't get suspicious if they started getting reports about a little girl stealing their shit and killing their families?"

Lancelot spat at her and the warm, sticky fluid stuck to her cheek "Fuck you" he snarled and Lucy drove her elbow into his back harder. "Ah! You little bitch!"

"Up yours asshole!" She replied "I should pop your goddamned head off and throw it to the wolves for what you've done but you deserve much worse" Lucy eyes flashed dangerously and her face was twisted into a sadistic grin. She could feel the panicked shudder that ran through the manbefo he started struggling harder.

"She's right you know" Emerald said condescendingly, wiping off his saliva "People like you don't think about it but the truth of the matter is that when you take a life the only price you can pay is death" she looked at Lucy "Sit him up"

Lucy followed her orders and brought him up to his knees. With one hand she held him down while the other grabbed for a leather cord around her neck. From under her shirt and between her already growing breast she pulled out a black key. "Black Gates, open" she said.

The had worked this out months ago. How the key worked, what Emerald's connection was and how her summoning worked as well. The black key Layla had given her, the key Lucy had decided to keep around her neck so it wouldn't fall into the wrong hands, was used to summon her as a _**Shinigami**_. She had learned that just as in her world she had two forms. Her tangible form was a default, unlike normal Celestial Spirits who would return to the Spirit world when they are done serving their master, she instead returned to wherever she had been before Lucy summoned her back in her tangible, human form whereas while she was in service she was a _**Shinigami**_, a Soul Reaper.

She could change back at will but for some reason it left her exhausted for a few seconds with a throbbing headache before gaining her stength if she tried to do it on her own. When Lucy was doing it on the other hand, it caused the summoner a significant amount of magic at the start but they had worked on improving Lucy's control over it so didn't cost her as much and once Emerald was there Lucy did not lose anymore magic because Emerald was already there on her own power and since reiatsu was measured in strength and not amount she had never needed to go to the spirit world to rest up.

Just like back in her wolrd, her abilities were limited in tangible human form. She could perform Kidō at a lower capacity and do flash step but she did not have acces to **_Ryūketsu_**, and she needed her _**Zanpakutō**_ for the occasional _**Konsō**_ when she and Lucy came across a restless soul or for banishing corrupted souls like Luxor or Darius.

So when the telltale flash of light died down she stood there, no longer dressed in the jeans and leather jacket she had bought from Claire but instead in her _**shihakushō**_, holding **_Ryūketsu_** in her right hand.

"You might want to stand back for this one Luce"

* * *

**Present Time**

An unfortunate truth that she had taught Lucy at the start of her training was that not everyone was as nice as her. There are people, many of them, that wouldn't hesitate to take advantage of any kindness other people show them and use it against them. True kindness should be reserved to those you trust, to others you don't trust who have no faults, you show them mercy but to those who wrong others deserve whatever comes after them, or rather _who_ comes after them.

Emerald couldn't have felt more proud of Lucy when she learned this lesson and took down those who deserved neither kindness nor mercy but she also felt sad that Lucy had to learn these things. Such was the path she wanted to take, the path of a mage.

Bero had not watered down or sugarcoated any of the stories he told them. He told them of people's cruelty, their evil and the rare kindness that appeared in between. He had warned Lucy that being a mage and a strong one had consequences, people would come after her, just for the sake of fighting her and taking her down and she had to be ready to show them no mercy or kindness in battle should they be undeserving of it.

Lucy had certainly passed those other tests and proven herself but not to Emerald and Ryūketsu. As she had said before, Emerald had one more test for Lucy and it would begin tonight.

For now she would let Lucy be happy in the petty world of expensive food and lavish cakes and the people who liked her only for what she had.

And they certainly did enjoy it, one boy had come up to her saying he had at least eight slices and he wanted to thank her for something so delicious.

Emerald had stared oddly at the boy and then she noticed a familiar mark on his shoulder. One that she had seen months before when she had healed Erza and whenever Lucy bought those ridiculous magazines "Hey Pinky" she called and the boy's onyx eyes turned to her with an annoyed look.

"My hair is salmon not pink!" He yelled, flailing his arms wildly.

"Uh Natsu" another little voice said and Emerald and Lucy whipped their head around looking for the source it was only when they looked down they saw the little _blue_ cat who was, strangely enough, standing on his back paws and wearing some sort of green backpack. "It's kind of rude to be like that to people who fed you"

"Huh?" He said the most clueless look Emerald had ever seen, crossing her face. "Oh! Hehe. Sorry about that!" He grinned while rubbing the back of his head. In all this Emerald could only focuses on the little blue creature that had spoken words, _human_ words just seconds ago.

"You're a cat" Emerald said monotonously.

The fur all smiled, and saluted "Aye sir! My name's Happy!" It chirped..

_**"Can cat's chirp?"**_ Ryūkestu asked her.

_"Beats me" _she answered

"You can talk" Lucy said in the same voice.

"Yeah! And I can fly too" it said happily. Emerald's and Lucy's eyes nearly popped out when a pair of white wings appeared on it's back. It took to the air flying around their heads and around the room.

They watched this with unreadable expressions, Emerald blinked twice.

_SLAP!_

"Ow!" Lucy yelped "What the hell was that for?!" Lucy cursed, another unfortunate thing that Lucy had learned from her. She just hoped her little sister had the sense not to say anything to obscene in front of her father or Jude would have her head.

"Just checking to see if I was dreaming" Emerald said simply.

She could feel Ryūkestu sweatdrop _**"Then why not hit yourself?" **_

Emerald ignored her and turned back to watch Happy the flying, blue cat jump into Lucy's cake, bits and pieces of frosting flying everywhere. "I guess everyone in Fairy Tail has their quirks" Emerald commented and the pink haired boy's ears literally twitched at the mention of his guild.

"You're from Fairy Tail?" Lucy asked him in surprise

He smiled, a toothy, goofy smile that was too big for his face "Yeah! My name's Natsu's!" He said proudly. "But lady how did you know I'm in Fairy Tail?"

"We met a few people on our travels." She told him "One of them was this girl. Red hair, wears armor over a dress. Her name was-"

"Erza!" Natsu suddenly yelled before scrambling to get under a table where he huddled himself into a little ball.

Emerald blinked, once again confused "Uh yeah, Erza. She has the same mark you have on your shoulder" but Natsu was too busy shaking and muttering something about psycho red-heads to hear her

She looked over to Happy who had already come back covered in pink and white and licking it off his paws. "Don't mind him. He's just scared because Erza got mad at him for fighting with Gray again and she beat them both up"

"I'm not scared of her!" Natsu protested

"Then why do you hide under the table at the mention of her name?" Lucy asked and he immediately came out under the table and tried to save what dignity he had left.

Strange how they seemed to be meeting people from that same guild again and again. First it was Erza, then they had sat across from a man named Wakaba in the smoker's section of a train once, he asked if she could light a cigarette for him, and then there was that blonde kid with the scar over his eye that she had taught how to-

"Neesan!" Lucy had called for her attention. "Natsu and Happy already left. They had to finish a mission in town but they said thank you again." Lucy informed her and she nodded.

She looked around the restaurant to see everyone enjoying their food and the dessert that came with it and realized that she and Lucy hadn't had a piece yet. "Come on" she took Lucy's hand "I don't think it's fair that the birthday girl doesn't get a slice of her own cake"

* * *

**Lucy**

The cake was, in fact, was delicious.

She could use the same words that neesan used to describe pie: "Happines on a plate" The blur cat fur was a bit off-putting but hey, cake is cake.

Afterwards when they left the Arrowhead, people thanking them and greeting her on their way out, she saw a small crowd gathered around something in front of the restaurant and she just knew from the fact that they were mostly male, a good amount of them covered in grease and oil, that they were checking out Emerald's motorcycle.

Yes, you read that right. She had a fucking motorcycle.

How, you ask? Well it was on the day they left the Konzern...

* * *

**Ten Months Ago (September)**

"Okay okay. I won't peek now stop poking me" Emerald said as Lucy led her down the stairs and out the door with a handkerchief, serving as a blindfold, covering her eyes.

Emerald didn't really understand why Lucy had woken her up by jumping on her stomach and shouting "Happy Birthday!"

Well obviously because it was September 3rd, her birthday, but the jumping part was unjustified.

Moving on. Lucy had led her older sister down the stairs and out the door, blindfolded and after a short walk down the path leading to the forest Lucy had her stop.

"Take it off" Lucy practically jumped with giddiness, excited to see her sister's reaction.

Emerald had laughed and called Lucy a bossy little thing before hooking a finger under the fabric and yanking it down.

"SURPRISE!" Yelled all the staff of the Konzern and Jude and Lucy the moment she opened her eyes. They were all standing around in a semicircle and in the middle was one of the most gorgeous machines Emerald had layed her eyes on "Holy shit" she whispered in disbelief causing Jude who normally rebuked her for cussing to chuckle.

Lucy giggled as well. When she had asked her older sister what was going through her head she was told that she thought she was seeing things. Because ther was no way in hell or heaven that an actual black Honda Nighthawk cb650 **(Disclaimer: I don't own that) **was sitting right in front of her.

Even Jude was confused when Emerald had said that about the bike and she had explained by saying that the same kind of bike was made decades ago in her world. That amazed almost everyone because the bike they had for her was brand new and not even out in this world yet, the developers were actually going scrap it but Jude had bought the only prototype before they did and had it fixed up and modified to what he thought was Emerald's preference and had added a special kind of SE Plug, one that could handle large amount of Magic or translated into "Emerald terms" average **_reiatsu_**.

The shiny silver and black machine scared Lucy at first because it didn't look very safe but Emerald had assured her that it would be fine before she circled around it, inspecting every inch of the motorcycle and smiling a wide, utterly pleased smile when she saw the design that was airbrushed into the side; a skull surrounded by blue flames, her symbol, the symbol of the fourteenth squad. Except then eyes were different, they were green gems.

"Let me guess.." Emerald had smirked at Jude and he smirked right back "Emeralds?"

He nodded and she laughed "You son of a bitch" she placed her hand on the engine before shining it with her elbow. She was still smiling and everyone couldn't help but enjoy her childlike curiousity and pleasure from getting a gift like this. Jude threw a key ring at her with three keys, the original and the spare for the bike and one she recognized as a key the mansion

"Thank you" she said "Thank you all so much, not just for the bike and the breakfast but for everything you've all done for me. I may not see my real family again but you guys have become a family to me and I think I can live with that" there was a chorus of "You're welcome" and "We feel the same way"

Turning back to the bike she slung one leg over it and settled herself, feeling it out. She patted down with her feet and hands, everything that she needed to remember, it had been a while. Breaks, clutch, muffler(she had to remember to remind Lucy not to touch that), Jude had said there were tools in the compartment under the seat.

"You got a helmet for me?" And on queue Mrs. Spetto came forward holding two, one that was black with blue flame motifs which she guessed was hers and a black half helmet that probably for Lucy. After that Bero and Ora came forward the latter holding the backpacs they had readied yesterday and the former holing Lucy's utility belt and a leather riding jacket with two white stripes going across the back

"Okay now this is too much" she had said taking the back pack and the jacket slipping it on over her gray shirt. "You have no idea how happy I am right now"

Jude smiled at her "And you told me that there was no material posession I could give you that would make you happy" he said condescendingly

She had laughed at that "Well, once and for all you've proven me wrong Jude. Thank you"

He nodded "Good luck. And take care of my little girl"

Lucy hugged him tightly "We'll come back Daddy. We promise.. We cant just leave family behind" She said her eyes shining with tears she refused to shed. She had him bend down to kiss his cheek one more time "I love you" before se went over to Emerald looking warily at the motorcycle.

"Come on it's easy. You see that footpeg over there? No not that one, that one's mine. Okay there, now pull yourself up, grab my shoulders for balance." Lucy settled herself as comfortably as she could on the bike and looked for the other peg. "Okay now move your foot a bit so it doesn't touch the muffler, that pipe-looking thing." She did as as instructed but still felt a bit odd.

"I'm not gonna fall am I?" She asked nervously and Emerald had laughed a her.

"No, just wrap your arms around me and lean forward when I do okay?" She nodded, snaking her arms around her waist.

Emerald slipped on the SE plug before looking back one moe time at the staff and the mansion, the place that had become a home to her and the people in it her family. The would come back, like Lucy said: they couldn't just leave family behind.

* * *

**Present Time**

"Alrigh clear out!" Emerald yelled to all the men surrounding her baby. "Move will ya! We gotta be in the next town by sunset" she said dispersing the crowd of machine enthusiasts who stared in disbelief when they found out she was the owner of the bike. They didn't leave, they just gave her space so she could back track far enough to get on the actual road.

"Come one Luce" Lucy gladly stepped forward getting on the bike before the driver was. She had grown to like the bike a lot. It got them around much faster than the train, and it made them look totally badass. Neesan handed her the SE plug and she slipped it on feeling ever drop magic that it took from her as fuel, Em handed her the half helmet that they had left hanging on the handlebars and put on her own helmet

She felt Emerald do that weird kickstart thing and the motorcycle came to life in a loud growl that soon turned to a smooth purr. She twisted the right handle twice and it growled again the sound rising above the excited whispers of the people who were watching. Em released the clutch and they shot forward, kicking up dust and gravel behind them.

Thankfully, Lucy thought, they stayed in the vehicle's lane this time. Lucy had unfortunately known from experience that her older sister tended to have this habit for recklss driving, not that anyone was fast enough to fine them or give them a ticket. Besides she was so good at driving that she could weave through people, carts and other vehicles faster than they could register she was even there.

Lucy, for the most part, enjoyed it, the wind in her hair and the sight of everything zooming past them. She didnt exactly enjoy the adrenaline as much as Emerald but she did see the appeal when she had driven Em to a hospital (long story).

"Hey you hear that?!" Emerald suddenly said to her, her voice rising above the wind that whistled in her ears.

"Hear what?!" And then she did. Crackling and then the smell of burning wood assaulted her senses, as well as the dark smoke that rose up to the sky. They were on the road out of Freesia town, with just a few more buildings and the church, that the had visisted yesterday, to pass. But instead of the grand, holy building that had amazed them, standing in it's place was a burning, half-collapsed mess and standing right in front of it with an angry mob standing in front of him was a boy with pink hair and a little blue creature cowering behind him.

Lucy stopped the flow and, they slowed down enough for Emerald to plant her feet to balance them and bring them to a stop in front of a brewery, empty barrels were being unloaded off a truck and rolled into the building. She slid the protective glass of her helmet up to get a better look. "Is that Natsu!?" She asked seeing him look utterly terrified as the mob of angry Freesia townspeople started to crowd him.

"You little brat!" One of them yelled above the rest "Look what you've done!"

"You're gonna pay for this!" Another bellowed

"Hold him down!" There were cheers of assent that went up all around. One man lunged forward to grab him but he jumped up out of the way. He tried backing up only to hit his back against a burning wall, any attempts made to get trought the crowd were usless as well, he was surounded on all sides.

"We've gotta help him!" Lucy exclaimed, jumping off the bike and running to the crowd. She tried to push her way through and even crawl under but each time she tried she was pushed back out.

"Lucy!" She whipped around to look at Emerald "The ramp!"

Her eyes locked on the wooden structure and then back to her sister. "Give me my backpack!" Emerald nodded and slung the bag of her shoulder before throwing it to Lucy who caught it with ease.

"Come on, come on!" She muttered impatiently as she dgged through the pack to look for a brown purse. "Yes!" She yelled triumphantly. She quickly ran to the men who were rolling barrels down the ramp.

"Ecxuse me sirs, I dont have time to explain but I will give you his bag with sixty thousand jewel each if you help me get that ramp to my sister as fast as you can!" She sad holding up the large purse that contained half of her allowance. "Please!"

They seemed to only consider it for a second before the were moving the wedge from the truck and in front of Emerald who backed away a few feet. Lucy gave them a quick thank you and threw the purse to them before jumping on the motorcycle again.

"Better let me take this one." Emerald told her before she could wrap the SE Plug around her arm. "We're gonna need the speed" Lucy nodded in understanding and passed it to her.

"Go now!" Lucy yelled seeing the people closing in on him.

"Hold on!" She said and the bike came to life, moving forward faster than Lucy could process. They were up the ramp and flying through the air in less than a second, casting a shadow on the crowd as they soared above their heads.

"Look out below!" Lucy yelled and several heads tilted upwards to see them.

"AAAAAAAAHHH!" A woman screamed and the rest of the crowd finally saw them, falling straight for them!

People backed away and practically fell over each other trying to get away from the landing zone, several of them literally falling over and ending up on their backs. But thankfully they were fast enough so when the bike landed with a suprisingly soft thud and a clank that Emerald muttered something like "Well shit! I'm gonna have to fix that later" about.

Lucy saw that the crowd was in shock. None of them really sure of what to do, but that wouldnt last and the would focus their attention on Natsu again. And speaking of the pink-haired boy wonder, he was just as awe struck as the rest of the crowd so it took Lucy three tries to finally get him to hear her.

"Come on! We're getting you out of here!" Lucy yelled holding out a hand to him but he just started looking like he'd throw up.

"I'm not getting on that thing!" He protested, whereas Happy was already flying towards them, his arms around Emerald neck.

"Come on Natsu!" Happy yelled. What the hell was his problem!?

"No way! That's a vehicle!" He yelled pointing at the bike like it was some kind of monster.

"So?!"

"It's a form of transportation!"

"So?!"

"OH FOR THE LOVE OF- Lucy just fucking grab him!" Emerald yelled impatiently, seeing that the crowd was starting to regain their senses.

"Move your ass pinky!" Lucy barked a him grabbing him by the a white scarf around his neck and yanking him forward with strength that surprised him.

"Hang on!" Emerald told them when Lucy finally got a squirming Natsu onto the bike holding him by the front of his clothes to keep him from falling.

Emerald had made her machine do a complete 180, leaving skid marks on the asphalt and revved the engine, the bike seemed to growl at them like an angry animal, a warning to the crowd that now seemed hesitant to come at felt her lean forward in preparation before they were moving once again, the crowd scrambling to get out of their way.

"I think I'm gonna be sick!" Natsu moaned and Lucy turned her head to see him turning a light shade of green.

"If you throw up on me I'll strangle you with your own scarf!" Lucy warned him but he didnt seem to even notice that she had spoken.

When they were finally clear of the crowd Lucy peeked over Emerald's shoulder to see her neatly drive out of the way of the ramp they had used. Without any warning she was jerked to the left when they made a sharp turn to get back on the road. She saw that they were only a few yards away from the arch that served as one of the ways out of town, and getting closer.

It wasnt long before they were out of Freesia, the outraged roars of the crowd and smell of burning wood fading behind them. Lucy couldnt help but be thoroughly annoyed by the fact that Natsu kept gagging every few seconds and when she finally got sick of it she made Emerald pull over, though it took some time before they could slow down enough to stop.

Strangely enough, the moment they stopped Natsu came back to life again. "Land!" He cried dramatically ripping blades of grass out of the field and hugging it somehow "Sweet sweet land! I'm finally off that monster!"

"Excuse me" Emerald spit at him "This _monster_ just saved your ass so the least you could do is say thank you to him-to it- I mean to us!" she fumbled with Happy still wrapped around her neck

Ignoring her sister's outburst Lucy just slid off the motorcycle and clipped off her helmet before handing it back "Why were the townsfolk so angry at you anyway?"

He instantly snapped out of his sudden grass worshiping state and went stiff, an awkward and down right guilty laugh coming out of his mouth "Uh...about that.." he hesitated, scratching the back of his head.

"What?" Emerald askd her eyes narrowing which would have been intimidating had she not had a blue fuzzball on her back which she was absentmindedly petting, causing him to purr.

"You remember that church you found me in front of?" He asked awkwardly.

"Yeah" Lucy answered and then it hit her "You burned it down!?" She shouted utterly horrified

"No I didn't!" He yelled back

"Yes he did!" Happy yipped happily

"It was an accident!" He turned to glare at the cat "You're supposed to be backing me up!" He whined.

"Don't yell at the poor kitty!" Emerald scolded, taking Happy into her arms and petting his head.

Happy just looked utterly satisfied "Yeah, don't yell at the kitty!" He agreed halfheartedly "Oh that's the spot!" He said when she scratched behind his left ear.

"That's a historic landmark Natsu!" Lucy yelled, seemingly the only one who was still on topic. "No wonder they wanted to gut you!"

"It was an accident!" He repeated "Besides it's not my fault they left candles out in the open!"

"Yeah but you're the one who lit the library on the second floor on fire" Happy quipped and when Lucy heard the words library and fire she was ready to burst.

"You destroyed all those precious and rare books!?" She growled vaguely aware of her older sister wisely moving herself, her bike and Happy out of the war zone.

"They were just books" Natsu said under his breath and Lucy could swear she heard something literally snap inside of her.

"It was nice knowing you Natsu" Emerald said casually before laying down on the grass with Happy contentedly sleeping on her chest.

Lucy surged forward.

"Hey what are you-AH! LUIGI OW, OW, OW. I'M SORRY, I'M SORRY. WAIT THAT'S NOT SUPPOSED TO BEND THAT WAY!"

"MY NAME IS LUCY! YOU SANG AT THE RESTAURANT AND YOU DON'T REMEMBER?!"

Emerald just lay in the grass humming to herself.

* * *

**Natsu**

"You have a little blood on the corner of your mouth there" The taller blonde lady told Lucy while she was working on that monster machine.

She frowned wiped _his_ blood off with her forearm "How'd that get there?"

The blone lady raised an eyebrow "Maybe it was when you bit his ear Mike Tyson" deadpanned.

Mike? Natsu though her name as Lucy.

"Uhh Natsu are you okay?" Happy asked, poking his bruised arm that was somehow trapped between his other arm and his leg that was also trapped beneath him. He yelped in pain "Yup! You're okay!"

"NO I'M NOT! THAT GIRLS IS A DAMN DEMON! SHE'S WORSE THAN ERZA!" He yelled spit mixed wth blood flying everywhere.

CLANK!

He groaned in pain again, in time with the sound of the wrench the blonde lady threw at him landing on the ground with a softer thud.

"What did I say about screaming at the kitty!?" She yelled, going back to the monster machine, looking it over one more time and nodding in approval. "All set. If we get on the road now we can reach Oak Town by nightfall."

Oak Town? Wasn't that where-

Natsu scowled.

"Awww" Happy said in disappointment "We can't go with you" he informed them sadly.

"Why not Happy?" The blonde lady asked him, sounding just as disappointed.

"Phantom Lord is in Oak Town" Natsu explained, noticing that his own voice sounding a little darker than usual

"Phantom Lord?" The blonde lady asked

Lucy snapped her fingers "Oh! I remember! They're another mage guild and apparently they hate fairies."

Hate them?! Well Natsu hated them right back! Stupid Phantoms!

"Aye!" Happy yipped "Fairy Tail and Phantom Lord have a long standing rivalry. If we go with you Natsu's sure to get in a fight with one of them and then the Master will get mad at us"

"If it's a rivalry why would he be mad? Wouldn't it be better if Natsu fought someone from there and won?" Lucy asked them

Natsu clicked his tongue irritatedly "Jiji and the master from Phantom are fellow Wizard Saints, so Jiji says that it would be uncivil of us to pick a fight with them and that we should be the better people" He said theough his teeth.

"What exactly did they do to start a rivalry?" Lucy asked him.

Huh what did they do? All he could remember was that he should hate them, because they wee no good. Some of them were thieves and they killed for money!

"We don't really remember" Happy shrugged "It's been going on so long that no one does anymore"

"Except maybe Jiji" Natsu said thoughtfully. "Yeah! Jiji probably remembers. I'll ask him!" he said happily and for some reason the blonde lady looked at him strangely and muttered "He's must bipolar or ADHD"

What's ACDC? Was that a food?

"So you're going back to Fairy Tail? It's in Magnolia right?" Lucy asked them and he nodded.

"Yup!" He said "They'll start to worry if we don't get back soon"

"Well then, you better get going" The blonde lady said "And we should too Luce"

"Thanks again for the food!" Happy waved to them as they got on the monster machine again. Natsu shivered, that thing was faster than a train, why would anyone want to ride something like that?

Well, they did look pretty cool with the helmets on.

"Tell Erza we said hi!" The blonde lady told him and then he paled. Erza! Oh man, when she finds out about the church she is going to be so pissed! He could practically feel the bruises that he would get in addition to the ones Lucy gave him. How do Lucy and the blonde lady even-

"Hey blonde lady wait!" Natsu said right befoe she stomped her feet down on some meal part. "I didn't get your name!"

She turned and slid down the darkened protective glass "It's Emerald" he heard her say even though it was slightly muffled. She kickstarted the monster machine and it roared real loud, almost like a dragon! The blond- Emerald gave him a salute before they zoomed down the road so fast, Jet would've been jealous.

"They were nice huh?" Happy said flying on top of him and them landing on his head.

"Yeah!" He said, remembering the cake but then he remembered more recent events "Except for when Lucy beat me up!"

"Oh yeah! That happened!" Happy said as if it was that easy to forget "That Emerald lady sure gives good cat rubs, though!"

But Natsu didnt hear him much, his mind was just making the connection right then. "Emerald...Emerald and Lucy"

"Natsu? What's up?"

"Emerald and Lucy..." He muttered and then his eyes widened "Two sisters? Blonde hair? A magical motorcycle!?" His voice started rising "They know Erza! Lucy and...EMERALD?!"

"NATSU WHAT'S GOING ON WITH YOU?!" Happy yelled in distress "YOUR BRAIN ISNT SUPPOSED TO WORK THIS HARD!"

"THEY WERE THE HEARTFILIA SISTERS!"

"WHAT?!" Happy yelled just shocked "BUT THEY WERE SO NICE!"

"I KNOW!" Natsu yelled back he stated kicking the grass in frustration "THE BEST BOUNTY HUNTERS IN FIORE AND I DIDN'T GET TO FIGHT THEM!"

He threw his head back and shouted "IT'S SO UNFAIR! NOW I'M ALL FIRED UP FOR NOTHING!"

* * *

**Best bounty hunters in Fiore? When did this happen? Are the really that good?! Find out in...oh come on. You know where.**

**Although I might not update in a long time if I dont get a least three reviews for this chapter. Yeah!**

**3 reviews or no next chapter until July!**

**Anyway. So I want to start on the fics about where the other three went but...they won't be Fairy Tail fics one will be from a TV show, another a book and another anime which I can reveal to you will be Code Geass. If you want these right away show support for this story. Favorite it, follow it and for the love of God review **

* * *

**Bonus (Because I made you wait so long. By the way this is relevant to the story)**

**Emerald**

**Year: X778 (November)**

**Location (Hosenka)**

She greedily downed the drink and ordered another when it was all gone.

It's been exactly a year. A year since this mess started for her. A year since she was taken or rather when everything was taken from her. Strangely she didnt feel any older, not physically anyway but she did feel weary. Which is why she left Lucy to stay with Mr. Haines while she went to get smashed, remembering to check into a hotel before coming here. She even thought up into existance a few dozen bottles of sake for Ryūketsu so they could both drown their sorrows in alcohol.

**_"To-hic- what we left behind" _**Ryūketsu, who drank much faster than Emerald, said raising a bottle. Emerald raised her fourth glass as well before downing it. She flinched slightly but choked it down.

The bartender just looked surprised when she asked for another but went to get her order anyway. She twisted on her barstool and, noticing how hot it was, she shed the leather jacket she wore over her little black dress that had a sweetheart neckline and only went up to mid thigh. The heels were killing her feet and the fishnet stalkings were riding up on her but she didn't care about that. She didn't care anout the loud music that was slowly defeaning her. She also didn't care about the eyes that were practically eating her up where she sat.

She rejected guy after guy, calling the cocky guys out on their cheesy pick up lines and exposing the "nice guys" ulterior motive with just a glance at them with her _**Shinigami**_ eyes. When one guy was a little too persistent and got grabby she slammed him onto the bar counter and slid him down the smooth glass surface until he crashed into a table down the way.

No guys came up to her after that. The were all too intimidated, it seemed. All except one.

"Hey" She heard someone say on her right and she looked up from her drink to see a really tall guy with spiky blonde hair and a lightning shaped scar running over his eye. He was dressed in a tartan shirt and jeans which was so much better than seeing the horrendous combo of a t-shirt, slacks and dress shoes. *Shiver* on his feet were vans protecting them from vomit that people had kindly left on the floor or other bodily juices.

Great now she's thinking about bodily juices, yup she's drunk.

"What do you want dude? Did you not see what happened to the last guy who tried?" She asked him pointing a finger at the table that had overturned when the jackass landed on it.

"I saw" he said "I just wanted to know if you'd like better company than some grabby asshole"

"You consider yourself better company?" She asked, the words sounding sharper and more sarcastic than she meant them too

"Ouch" he feigned hurt but she could tell he had been put off a little.

"Sorry" she muttered "It's just been a long day. Please, take a seat" she said gesturing to the stool next to her. He sat down and she,had to admire the how those jeans hugged his long legs like they were literally made for him. She subconsciously licked her lips when she looked a how nicely the shirt strectched over his muscled chest and

Goddamit! The whiskey was starting to get to her brain. She sighed and sipped more of the drink anyway.

"I'm sorry what?" She said whe she realized her blonde friend had said something but she couldn't hear him over the bass that pounded in the background.

She had to force herself to concentrate when he leaned in to say whatever he had said into her ear, his hot breath fanning out over her cheek causing it to color. "You make a habit out of getting the attention of guys a lot bigger than you?" He leaned back, satisfied with how he got her to react but surprised when she didn't pull back.

She just stayed there her eyes narrowng and her lips curling into a seductive smile "Only when I know I can take 'em"

He grinned at her, leaning forward again and she did the same, moving closer...

WAIT A MINUTE! Hold it! What the hell was she doing?! She hadn't even scoped him yet

She sharply turned away from him and blinked, her eyes opening to reveal that they had turned red. She looked back at his confused face and read him like an open book in a matter of seconds

"How old are you, kid?"

His face betrayed nothing but she saw the shock in those stormy blue eyes. Blue eyes, nice.

"Old enough" he said but she just stared a him waiting for a real answer "Sixteen"

She knew it, she saw it above his head too but it was still surprising. He was so damn tall and broad shouldered and muscled and-

**_"Just take him home already!"_** Ryūketsu, who had continued drinking without her, slurred.

_"He's a kid"_ she looked at him critically_ "And a virgin!"_ She said, she saw it in the slightly awkward way he approached her that was covered with false confidence.

_**"So what? *hiccup!* Three years doesn't mean shit, especially when they look like this one does" **_Ryūketsu insisted and she had to aree that he looked mature for his age, a sort of rugged handsomeness defining him "_**And as for the *hic* virgin part, what's the harm in trying someone new?"**_

_"This is not up for discussion!"_

_**"You're acting like such a prude!"**_ Ryū whined, _**"You need to get laid! So just grab this kid take him home and jump on his-"**_

She severed the mental link.

She sighed and rubbed her face "Kid let's cut the bullshit now okay? What's the wager?"

He even looked shock now but he still tried to play it off "I don't know what you mean"

She raised an eyebrow "I know why you're talking to me, I know that your friends over there probably dared you to come up to me" She said pointing at a group of people in a booth who looked way older than sixteen but weren't, who had been watching them since this blonde kid started talking to her. A guy with blue hair and a wierd visor on his head, a green haired guy who had longer hair than she did and a girl with brown hair and glasses. When she locked her eyes on them they all nervously ducked their heads down.

"I also know you're a virgin" her voice dropped down to a whisper but his response, a full on blush, spoke volumes.

"You got me" he admitted with a sigh "Honestly though, I only agreed to come up to you after I saw you toss him."

"Really?" She laughed.

"Yeah. I don't really like girls who can't stand up for themselves." He said bashfully.

She shook her head "You my friend have chosen the most difficult type to get. I wish you luck, even though I know you're fucked." She said and he actually laughed, the awkwardness and tension from before all but forgotten.

"It happens when you're in my line of work" he explained "You see all these strong girls who don't take sit from anybody so normal girls just end up looking so boring in comparison."

"You're a mage?" She asked sipping more of her drink. At his look of surprise she explained "Kind of obvious when you say strong girls"

"But don't change the topic." She scolded "What's the wager?"

"That I could get you to dance with me before you left" he said

She laughed "That's it? I would've done that if you had just straight up asked me" she said

He gave her a questioning look "If _anyone_ had straight up asked you?"

She shook her head "Only you" she answered before downing the rest of her drink and grabbing his hand, almost letting go when literal sparks crawled up her arm when she touched him.

She led him to the floor and soon they were moving to the beat. He turned out to be a beter dancer than she was and she suddenly found herself smiling and laughing along with him.

"I never got your name!" He said over the music "I'm Laxus!"

"I'm Emerald!" she yelled back "And you owe me half of whatever you won!" He laughed.

The talking stopped when she got to close to him and the sparks started dancing across her skin. Her arms reached up to wrap around his neck.

He got the idea and leaned down to kiss her. When they pulled apart her vision was a little cloudy, but she could see him grinning from ear to ear just fine and she noticed that his smile was a bit crooked. Cute.

**_"What's the harm?" _**Ryūkestsu had said.

She thought about it. She remembered her first time at his age, the guy had shown her what to do and was patient with her, saying he hadn't actually done it with a virgin before and that it was an interesting but enjoyable experience, being in control.

Aww fuck it.

She tugged Laxus back down to her level "How about we go back to my hotel room?" She purred in his ear, that fifth whisky taking effect on her confidence.

He looked at her in shock but then shuffled nervously.

"Don't worry" she said "I'll show you the ropes" she whispered nibbling on his ear.

He nodded and let her take his hand and pull him out of the club.


End file.
